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EIRGRID'S environmental destruction of Co Waterford.
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Please sign this petition to help stop these pylons.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/A_demand_for_undergrounding_of_high_voltage_power_lines_in_Ireland/?pv=5
Why this is important
Eirgrid, a state owned company responsible for the Irish national grid system are planning to erect hundreds or possibly thousands of pylons carrying high voltage power lines across the unique natural beauty of Ireland. Little or no consideration is shown towards peoples health, well-being, property and land devaluation, wildlife, archaeological sites and negative impact on tourism, businesses etc. All over Ireland there are numerous protests from the communities affected and we believe Eirgrid's consultation process is flawed and needs investigation. We demand the cables to be put underground. You can sign this petition wherever you are in the world, to help preserve Ireland's stunning and unexploited landscape for future generations.0 -
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A PEOPLE'S revolt against a controversial €3.2bn power project that will dot 4,000 new high-voltage pylons over much of rural Ireland is gathering momentum with dozens of towns and villages across the country banding together to fight the plan.
Top jump jockey Ruby Walsh has added his voice to oppose the Eirgrid "Grid 25" strategy – the biggest electricity infrastructure project in decades.
Mr Walsh told the Sunday Independent he is supporting his neighbours in the Calverstown, Narraghmore and Crookstown areas of Kilcullen, Co Kildare – a possible "corridor" for some 1,100 kilometres of power lines that will criss-cross the countryside.
"There's a time to stand up and be counted on behalf of your neighbours. It doesn't affect me but I can see the anxiety in the locality. People have to band together on this one. If you don't support your neighbour in times of need then the next time it will be you – and you will be on your own," he said.
The national hunt hero says putting cables underground is the best solution – for the environment and to eliminate fears over health.
"I don't know much about this technically but it just seems to me that for a little more expense all these worries could be eliminated by going underground. It just makes more sense," Mr Walsh added.
Last week nearly 500 people gathered in Piltown, Co Kilkenny, to voice their protest to the plan. The rural village is on the pathway of two of six potential routes of 45-metre high pylons across Munster and Leinster. The €500m Grid Link Project will connect substations in Knockraha in Cork to Dunstown near Kilcullen in Kildare, via Great Island in Wexford.
And there are similar projects in other parts of the country. Grid West covers Mayo, Galway, Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim. The Meath-Tyrone project also impacts Cavan, Monaghan and Armagh, while there is another significant project joining Laois and Kilkenny. Plans for pylons linking Meath with the counties of Cavan and Monaghan have been the subject of intense opposition for years.
Eirgrid insist the developments are vital for prosperity and economic growth – that health fears are without foundation and that going underground is both too costly and technically unfeasible.
A spokesman told the Sunday Independent that a stable, high-quality electricity route is an "absolute requirement" to attract international inward investment.
But mother-of-two Sara Conlon, from Piltown, said people are just waking up to the potential impact of the project.
"I would have most concerns about the health issue. There is research that says the electro-magnetic fields (EMF) that is given off by power lines damages health. I have two young children. It is their generation that has most to lose," she told the Sunday Independent.
She is also worried about the impact on the landscape.
"One of the routes is through a valley which I can see from my house. I have a view of Kilkenny and Waterford and I can see the Galtees in Tipperary. That view will be blighted by these pylons."
The All-Ireland grid project now looks set to become a key political issue – especially in the run up to next year's local and European elections.
As Piltown mounts its campaign, other action groups are setting up all over the country.
An alliance of groups in the south-east is staging a protest march at 1pm on Saturday, November 9, at the Mahon Falls in the Comeragh Mountains in Co Waterford – a picturesque area that could be affected by the project.
The march will be led by cycling legend Sean Kelly.
Another community organisation, RTS Substation Action Group, represents people from Ratheniska, Co Laois, where this year's ploughing championships took place, as well as nearby Timahoe and Spink.
They are campaigning against a new and bigger electricity sub-station that will replace an existing facility.
Residents from the village and surrounding areas have already sent over 1,200 letters to the planning department of Laois County Council objecting to the proposed substation. The next key date for them is an oral planning hearing to take place in the Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise, Co Laois, starting on Monday, November 4. Like many of the army of community groups, RTS is using the power of social networking – especially Facebook – to galvanise opposition.
"Eirgrid will have no qualms about splashing our tax euros on teams of barristers at €3k a day and a panel of experts and consultants.
Colm Fingleton from Ratheniska claimed Eirgrid is creating the new infrastructure to "export wind energy to France" and that the local benefits cited by Eirgrid are a red herring. "This plan was hatched up in the madness of the Celtic Tiger. Since then demand for electricity has gone down between 15 and 20 per cent. The current infrastructure is [COLOR=#009900 !important]fit[/COLOR] for purpose," Mr Fingleton said.
North East Pylon Pressure (NEPP), which is further down the line in opposing plans for 400 pylons in Meath, Cavan and Monaghan, is now gathering together other groups from across Ireland for a "Monster National Wake-Up meeting" in Trim on the evening of November 5.
Padraig O'Reilly of NEPP told the Sunday Independent: "This meeting started as a gathering about the North-South Interconnector which we have opposed for five or six years now, but in the meantime all the other projects have been rolled out around the country. We have been inundated with calls for help from dozens of small communities in the pathways of the Grid West project in Connacht and the Cork-to-Kildare project.
"Taking on a semi-State agency with all their money and power is tough but it can be done if people band together," he said.
Mr O'Reilly accused Eirgrid of "setting neighbour against neighbour".
"The thing about having six or seven proposed routes is that one community will be battling against another community. The only solution is for all the groups to band together and force the Government and Eirgrid to go underground."
Landowners receive compensation for having a pylon on their land. The going rate is rumoured to be about €20,000 per pylon, though Eirgrid has refused to discuss payments.
However, individual homeowners on the pathway of overhead lines get nothing.
A 12-week consultation process started in September and ends on November 26 for the Cork-to-Kildare project. Eirgrid said it is doing everything it can to ensure that people are being informed.
SUNDAY INDO.0 -
SAVE THE COMERAGHS:
Show your support by walking with us to Mahon Falls on Saturday 9th November. Meeting at 1pm in car park.
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http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/huge-turnout-for-public-meeting-opposing-eirgrid-s-plans-for-overhead-pylons-1.1585506
Close to 1,000 people attended a public meeting in Co Meath last night in opposition to EirGrid’s plans to upgrade the transmission network though overhead pylons.
The turnout is part of a campaign by North East Pylon Pressure group (Nepp) to galvanise opposition nationally to what it describes as a “disgraceful act of environmental vandalism”.
Those long opposed to a 400kV interconnector between North and South were joined by those opposed to EirGrid’s Grid Link project to connect Leinster and Munster with a 400kV overhead electricity line.
The North-South interconnector will involve 450 pylons between Tyrone and Meath while the Grid Link project will connect Cork to Kildare via Waterford with 750 pylons along a kilometre-long corridor.
A public consultation process on the proposed routes is due to conclude at the end of the month.
Padraig O’Reilly of Nepp said they had made a “very strong case” that running the cables underground was feasible and made economic sense. He said the meeting was set up to press the case for a political consensus on this issue.Among the politicians who attended were Fine Gael TD Regina Doherty, Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín, Senator Thomas Byrne and MEP Marian Harkin.
Health and environment
Ms Harkin said she supported the undergrounding of cables because the European Commission had suggested a link between overhead powerlines and childhood leukemia was “valid”. Senator Byrne said he opposed pylons on the grounds of health and environment. He said Fianna Fáil would call for the project to be suspended and an independent mediator to be appointed between Eirgrid and the public.
Fine Gael TD Damien English said a Government-commissioned, independent study had proved the cables could go underground, although the costs were disputed. Mr O’Reilly said EirGrid had been invited but declined to attend.
Nepp was set up six years ago to oppose the North-South interconnector stretching from Tyrone to Meath. Mr O’Reilly told the meeting that technology had moved on and now underground high-voltage, direct current lines constituted 25 per cent of the lines planned across Europe in the next decade.
EirGrid had undermined its own argument about the costs involved by the success of the 256km East-West interconnector between Ireland and Wales which has 140km on land underground, he told the meeting.
Nepp adviser Dr Colin Andrew said the California Department of Health had concluded there was “no longer any doubt” overhead pylons caused significant health problems.
He said the effect on the landscape would be “devastating”. “You can hardly imagine filming Braveheart when there are so many pylons in the background,” he said referring to the Oscar-winning film which was shot in the Trim area.
EirGrid has said there are 6,500km of overhead pylons across the country and they are the most efficient means of carrying electricity.
Burying the cables underground is an inefficient and technically inferior solution which can only work in densely populated city areas, it said. It has also cited a review of medical studies, stating agencies including the World Health Organisation considered the evidence for increased risk of cancer as a result of exposure to power frequency electric and magnetic fields “to be scientifically unconvincing”.0 -
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Protest march this Saturday @ Car Park at Mahon Falls
Comeraghsagainstpylons would like everyone to show their support to oppose Eirgrid's "Gridlink" project. The more publicity we get the better. See you all on the day!0 -
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Ah I think you're talking to yourself.0
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Anyone from Dungarvan/Ballinroad area? Would love to go and support but transport is a problem.0
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I live in the general area where these are proposed and I don't see what all the fuss is about. there is already this type of connections across the countryside and don't see people complaining about it. What makes these so different. If they were painted green people wouldn't take any notice.
People have little to be doing, i'm sure the farmers will be happy with the payments of something like 20,000+.0 -
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http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/over-1-500-protest-against-comeragh-mountains-pylon-plan-1.1590192
More than 1,500 people walked in the cold winter rain at the weekend to protest against any proposed Eirgrid network of pylons designated for the area around the Comeragh mountains.
One possible line of pylons suggested by Eirgrid, as part of its plans to upgrade the electricity grid by 2025, runs through Co Waterford. It has drawn opposition because of fears about the effect on the countryside, and health and safety concerns.
Saturday’s walk was organised jointly by the Comeraghs Against Pylons and Comeragh Rathgormack K9 Pylon Prevention groups and took protesters from Crough Wood on the edge of the Comeraghs to the picturesque Mahon Falls.
The campaign is one of several around the country in opposition to possible networks of pylons. Among those in attendance on Saturday were walking groups, scout groups, sporting organisations, national schools and other members of the public, local councillors and TDs Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael), John Halligan and Mattie McGrath (both independent) and Sinn Féin senator David Cullinane.
‘Disgrace’
The walk was to have been led by former world cycling number one Seán Kelly, who is originally from the nearby parish of Clonea-Power, but he was delayed in Belgium on Friday night and couldn’t attend. He said on Saturday: “It’s a disgrace that they’re going to put something like that in the countryside. Especially in the Comeraghs. It just can’t be allowed.”
The former champion cyclist, now overseeing his own An Post Seán Kelly team, echoed calls for the new power grid to be placed underground. “It would be a shame to put pylons in the countryside, they would be such an eyesore.”
Mattie McGrath called on Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte not to allow a new overground network. “Show him where the Comeragh mountains are. Show him what a sheep looks like. But above all, show him how we’re going to stand against this madness.”
Dermot Kirwan of the Comeragh Against Pylons group said it was “unbelievable” to think Eirgrid would place a network of pylons across the Comeragh Mountains.
Michael O’Donoghue of the Comeragh Rathgormack K9 Pylon Prevention group said it is “absolutely vital” the landscape of the region is kept intact for future generations.
Mr Coffey drew some barracking from the crowd during his speech when he said the ultimate decision about the pylons would come down to An Bord Pleanála. “No, no, no,” shouted some. The Government had to consider the future electricity needs of the country, he said, but added that Eirgrid should put any new grid underground.
“The national gas network has been put underground in this country and, in my opinion, there’s no reason the electricity grid couldn’t be put underground also,” he said.
2,487 people support this page against pylons.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/No-Eirgrid-Pylons-Go-Underground/219856181511250
PLEASE JOIN THE CAMPAIGN AND HELP STOP EIRGRID FROM RUINING OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRYSIDE.
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Comeraghs - I've been delving in and out and this conversation, very frustrating to read, and has NIMBYISM written all over it.
There's pylons going through my farm, 100m from my door. Those so called facts from that NEPP poster are ridiculously wrong.
Devaluation - where have they come from, what basis have they? I know for a fact that there's no impact on the value of our land, and if we went to sell a field in the morning that there'd be no difference in price as opposed to the next field over that doesn't have a pylon in it. How do I know that, because we sold a field last year with a pylon in it.
Health - that poster just goes to prove there's nothing proven about health affects - "majority of people believe...possible.....strong association", come on, talk about clutching at straws.
Landscape - Of course pylons aren't a visual amenity, but they need to go somewhere. Just everyone possibly affected by these new lines doesn't want them. I've never gone anywhere with regards travelling with pylons in mind, otherwise I'd never leave the house or the country.
Under grounding - the reality - technically feasible to bring power underground from one point to another, but not feasible to support the existing network, which is the reason for the project.
Supported by recent government report - no it just said it's possible, not that it should be done, because it's not feasible.
Danish government - only putting their lower high voltage lines underground, as in under 150kV, not anything above that.
East West Interconnector - is a DC line, which is completely different from an AC overhead line. DC is fine for linking one network with another. DC line not good for supporting an AC system which is what Ireland is.
I could go on and on about what's wrong with that poster but I'll stop now. Just makes me angry when there's pylons located throughout the country but when the likes of Eirgrid want to put a line near someones backdoor, then people are against it.
I'm an engineer working in energy, with a pylon going through our farm and am someone who appreciates the difficulty of what Eirgrid have to do. Everyone's happy to have electricity in their home but not for a pylon to be near them, ha, laughable.
On a side note, I checked their website again, the line skirts around the Comeraghs, going lowland as they should.0 -
Comeraghs - I've been delving in and out and this conversation, very frustrating to read, and has NIMBYISM written all over it.
There's pylons going through my farm, 100m from my door. Those so called facts from that NEPP poster are ridiculously wrong.
Devaluation - where have they come from, what basis have they? I know for a fact that there's no impact on the value of our land, and if we went to sell a field in the morning that there'd be no difference in price as opposed to the next field over that doesn't have a pylon in it. How do I know that, because we sold a field last year with a pylon in it. .
Nonsense. What if your field had 4 pylons in it. Would it still have the same value as one with none.
What if the pylons were closer to your house or overshadowed it, would that effect the value, of course it would.
If the pylons don't devalue the land then why is compensation paid and why is compensation paid annually for the losses they cause?
Health - that poster just goes to prove there's nothing proven about
health affects - "majority of people believe...possible.....strong association",
come on, talk about clutching at straws.
Would live directly under a 400kV line? There is no doubt that HV lines cause health problems for people who are exposed to them up close for a period of time. The problem is that it can't be proven.Landscape - Of course pylons aren't a visual amenity, but they need to
go somewhere. Just everyone possibly affected by these new lines doesn't want them. I've never gone anywhere with regards travelling with pylons in mind, otherwise I'd never leave the house or the country.I'm an engineer working in energy, with a pylon going through our farm and am someone who appreciates the difficulty of what Eirgrid have to do. Everyone's happy to have electricity in their home but not for a pylon to be near them, ha, laughable.
The difficulty of what Eirgrid have to do????
If Eirgrid weren't so arrogant and self-righteous about what they do i.e we keep the lights going on a non-profit basis, then maybe people might have some sympathy.
They are way overpaid for the mess they make, every one of them.On a side note, I checked their website again, the line skirts around the Comeraghs, going lowland as they should.
Great, that's ok then. Maybe Eirgrid shouldn't bother with a planning application, they should just fire ahead.0 -
.Nonsense. What if your field had 4 pylons in it. Would it still have the same value as one with none.
If your field had 4 pylons in it, it'd be some size and if you put it for sale they'd be beating the s**te out of each other to bid on it as a field like that only comes for sale once in a lifetime.
If the pylons don't devalue the land then why is compensation paid and why is compensation paid annually for the losses they cause?
Compensation is for ground rent and to cover any damage caused by machinery to crops.
Would live directly under a 400kV line? There is no doubt that HV lines cause health problems for people who are exposed to them up close for a period of time. The problem is that it can't be proven.
There's no doubt other than the lack of proof:rolleyes::rolleyes:.
The difficulty of what Eirgrid have to do????
Being bombarded by pseudo-science on a daily basis and being unable to dismiss the clowns trotting it out would be very difficult for me.
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Comeraghs - I've been delving in and out and this conversation, very frustrating to read, and has NIMBYISM written all over it.
This is a very divisive and emotive issue and will have a lot a people expressing their opinions where at other times and for other topics they wouldn't necessarily do so. The mapped routes along which these lines are supposed to travel are very much, figuratively speaking, in peoples back gardens, indeed the very fact that the lines are proposed to travel trough County Waterford at all puts them firmly in all of our back gardens. It is disingenuous to single out the most active poster on this thread and shine the NIMBYISM light in their direction when all the poster is doing is keeping the thread up to date with news snippets, paper reports and local rally information.There's pylons going through my farm, 100m from my door. Those so called facts from that NEPP poster are ridiculously wrong.
I'm sure you will be the first to admit that the pylons passing 100m from your door would be dwarfed quite significantly by the mega-pylons being proposed now.Devaluation - where have they come from, what basis have they? I know for a fact that there's no impact on the value of our land, and if we went to sell a field in the morning that there'd be no difference in price as opposed to the next field over that doesn't have a pylon in it. How do I know that, because we sold a field last year with a pylon in it.
I would agree that agricultural land generally would not be devalued as a result of having a pylon in a field for sale. However, historically a lot of farmers have depended on 'the sale of a site' to supplement their income when the economy or circumstances dictated the need to do so. I'm going to state the obvious here but I'm sure you can see what's coming. If there was one of the proposed pylons within a field that you wanted to sell a site from, you would have a very hard job to sell it. From this point an otherwise 'healthy' site becomes unsaleable and would lead to a loss in value for the host field.Health - that poster just goes to prove there's nothing proven about health affects - "majority of people believe...possible.....strong association", come on, talk about clutching at straws.
The coin has fallen on it's edge on this one.Landscape - Of course pylons aren't a visual amenity, but they need to go somewhere.
Unless you have lived under a rock until now you should realise that Pylons are already everywhere, as you have already pointed out they are even 100m from your door, Do we need more of them? what would be wrong with upgrading the existing pylon systems and networks?Under grounding - the reality - technically feasible to bring power underground from one point to another, but not feasible to support the existing network, which is the reason for the project.
Supported by recent government report - no it just said it's possible, not that it should be done, because it's not feasible.
Danish government - only putting their lower high voltage lines underground, as in under 150kV, not anything above that.
East West Interconnector - is a DC line, which is completely different from an AC overhead line. DC is fine for linking one network with another. DC line not good for supporting an AC system which is what Ireland is.
I think you are missing the point completely here, the suggestion to go underground is one alternative here, it is not the only alternative and instead of shooting it down perhaps out energy could be channelled into finding other alternatives or solutions since EIRGRID seemingly can't be bothered to.
As I see it, EIRGRID found itself with a huge problem, it wants to expand exponentially as a corporate enterprise and import and export electricity to and from Europe, but needs a viable network to do it. In answer to it's problem it has decided to pursue the cheapest and easiest possible solution and then try to ram this down everyone's throat while simultaneously claiming to care enough to hold public information meetings which are nothing short of a charade designed to give the impression that this is the only possible alternative to their problem.
If this was a singular problem of enhancing domestic supply, I would be far more sympathetic towards their proposals, but EIRGRID have only tried to disguise the fact that this is nothing short of Big Business Enterprise trying to fatten it's bank accounts by running roughshod over our otherwise quiet population and raping our natural resourses through Corporate Greed seemingly with political backing.I'm an engineer working in energy, with a pylon going through our farm and am someone who appreciates the difficulty of what Eirgrid have to do. Everyone's happy to have electricity in their home but not for a pylon to be near them, ha, laughable.
Most people are not laughing, Jack. They can see through the veneer of greed under which these proposals are being pushed through. Maybe the pylons on your doorstep are obscuring your vision of the overall situation.On a side note, I checked their website again, the line skirts around the Comeraghs, going lowland as they should.
Zoom out a little bit further, Jack, maybe you will find another solution for EIRGRID instead of skirting the Comeraghs at all.0 -
Don,t understand the fuss really..living in the middle of a town with masts everywhere of one description or another....Its called progress lads, more employment , more efficient energy source, and I find it difficult to have any sympathy for some of the farmers given their land grab of the old railway lines. Opposed to Deise Greenway which would be a massive boost to tourism but they play the victims with this issue....0
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I understand there is a fuss but that does not mean I understand or sympathise with it....Troll Alert ? Insulting ....Strange how when one takes a position opposite to the populist one , the inevitable accusation of trolling comes out.
I am not sure anybody understands nor can be definitive about this issue. It is argument and hysterical counter argument as far as I can see.0 -
Thanks to everyone who has supported our campaign so far & Merry Christmas to you all.
We have shown that Eirgrid and their friends in high places can be rattled ..... now to show they can be defeated.0 -
The pylons issue is never far from the news now. An interesting point came up the other day in an interview with Pat Rabbitt and Cathal MacCoille on RTEs Morning Ireland programme – could the existing pylons be used for the job?
I looked up the ESB map here and discovered that most of the new routes already have 220kv cables and pylons already on them. The new pylons are proposed to take 400kv cables. When I checked up on the size cable we are talking about it appears that a 220kv cable is 88mm in diameter and a 400kv cable is 118mm in diameter. Bigger and meatier yes, but it is really that huge that it requires all these extra pylons. I think that if I were Eirgrid then I would be seriously considering how to beef up the present pylons to take the extra weight in order to scale down the controversy.
It’s ironic that we already have pylons along the route and they don’t even seem to be considered. Are there any knowledgeable power workers here who can tell me if I am right?0 -
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Tom McGurk in yesterdays Sunday Business Post.
For weeks now, there has been a growing tide of concern in the government parties at the public anger with Eirgrid's pylon network plans. A path has been beaten to both the Taoiseach's and Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte's door by concerned local and Euro election candidates.
Each has sought an answer to the same question: ''What am I going to say when the householders ask me where I stand on the pylons issue? The smell of electoral annihilation is in the air.
Apparently one major Labour Party grandee had even warned that, come the elections in May, Labour might lose 60 per cent of its local government seats and also sustain big loses in Europe.
A political lifeboat has had to be launched to save candidates from choppy electioneering waters; there is a manual on board providing them with answers to the big pylon questions.
Thus, out of the blue last Tuesday came Rabbitte's appointment of the McGuinness Review. By Wednesday, even he was being slapped down by the Taoiseach after he had hosted a panic-stricken Fine Gael meeting of TDs from Cavan and Meath. Despite Rabbitte's assertion otherwise, Kenny ended up requesting that the McGuinness Review also look at the proposal for the North-South power link, in addition to the Grid Link and Grid West projects, which were initially the subject of the review.
Astonishingly, this is despite the fact the North-South project is ready for submission to planning.
Time and again, Rabbitte and his colleagues have misjudged the public mood on the two massive state infrastructural projects on their desk: wind turbines and pylons. Last summer, Rabbitte began by poking fun at objectors of the huge Midlands windfarms project, and only a few weeks ago he was accusing the anti-pylon groups of ''jumping up and down.
On television this week he was being suitably supplicant as he talked about the growing concerns of local people.
It's too early to judge to what extent voters will buy the McGuinness inquiry line. One suspects that it may actually harden the resolve of many against the pylons project. Given the level of anger about the Eirgrid project across the country, there is even the possibility that the rescue plan will blow up in the faces of the government parties.
But the most compelling reason for thinking that the new inquiry is little more than an attempt at buying political time is the fact that - essentially - it is already a waste of time because it is asking a question that it already knows the answer to.
To compare overground and underground routes for the cables will come up with the same answer in a few months time as it would come up with if asked this morning. Underground is technically more challenging and potentially much more expensive.
I have to say potentially more expensive' for the moment because suddenly the whole question of compensation is now emerging for putting pylons above ground.
I will come back to this in a moment, but if the McGuinness inquiry was charged with really finding a solution to this crisis, then surely it would seek to investigate the larger picture and how we have got to this impasse.
In other words, it should revisit the 2007 decision by the then Green minister Eamon Ryan to use Euro 30 billion to establish a new Green Energy policy for Ireland and to give Euro 4 billion of it to Eirgrid to vastly upgrade the national network. At the time, Ryan said that the purpose of the upgrade was to enable the new transmission network to carry 60 per cent more renewables, in other words, wind energy.
The important context here is that the rate of change in the energy business is relentless. For example, only ten years ago, the US was fretting at the prospect of running out of oil. Currently, as a result of fracking - the production of gas from deep underground shale-rock mining - it is now almost totally energy self-sufficient.
Even in the seven years since Ryan launched his plan, the energy context here in Europe has radically changed.
Both Denmark and Germany have decided that, in future, all wind farms will have to go offshore to reduce electricity costs to consumers, while in Britain the Cameron government is determined to extensively promote fracking. This includes in the North.
Two weeks ago, the EU radically changed its mandatory green requirements too. This significant change in EU policy means that while binding renewable energy targets remain at 27 per cent at overall EU level, there are no binding targets at member state level.
What this means in effect is that member states - including Ireland - will have to achieve emissions targets, but will be free to decide on their energy mix in order to achieve those emission reductions.
Essentially, this means that we in Ireland should reassess our renewable energy policy to take account of the changed circumstances and, in turn, produce a new, proper cost-benefit analysis for our proposals on wind and power transmission.
These EU changes will also have an impact on our energy exporting ambitions, especially to Britain. They now have the flexibility to use more nuclear power and shale gas to meet their emission reduction targets, and therefore that potential market from Ireland is already shrinking.
What, for example, will this mean for the huge Midlands windfarm plans which are targeting Britain?
The Ryan plans were made at the moment of unquestioning acceptance of the genius of wind power. The zeitgeist about wind is entirely different now. There is also the longer-term question of our building a massive new network system, greatly in excess of our power requirements, which could become a white elephant in the near future. Indeed, how long will this new network take to complete?
Meanwhile, the Eirgrid management of this project raises more and more questions. For example, not a single member of its board has any network transmission expertise. They have to buy it in. Nor do board members seem to have anticipated the looming compensation crisis if the project does go ahead. They may have anticipated homeowners reacting, but what about hundreds of thousands of acres of land sanitised by farmers because of the high tension lines across them and valued at up to €12,000 an acre?
If we get to a compensation war, this controversy has the potential to end up as a defining legal moment in the Supreme Court. The dimensions of what Eirgrid is planning across 500 kilometres of Ireland - involving thousands of homes, businesses and farms - will test the constitutional right to private property to the pin of its legal collar. In the history of the state, nothing like this has ever been attempted before.
And if Eirgrid thinks that it will be deciding on the levels of compensation - should that day arrive - it had better have another think. Already Rabbitte has multiplied the company's difficulties by announcing on television - apparently unilaterally - that the market price would be paid for houses that couldn't be sold because of pylons. Maybe underground might prove cheaper in the long run.
There is a growing sense now that both the government and Eirgrid are losing control of this project. They are facing levels of opposition they had never imagined.
From the outset, too, they have been less than frank with the public, trying to disguise the extent of the wind power requirement on the new network and involving the public in a submissions ritual that is essentially meaningless. What on earth is Joe Public supposed to submit other than, ''I don't want it near my home?
The minister's tactic has been to meet the underground demands with a warning that consumer bills will rise as a result. I suspect this inquiry will also be used to underline this propaganda line.
(c) Sunday Business Post0 -
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Monday, February 10, 2014
Burying cables costs €4 a person per year’
Burying Eirgrid’s controversial high-voltage powerlines would cost around €4 a year per person, according to an expert who insists this would be the best course of action.
The advice from Denis Henshaw of the University of Bristol is supported by a report from the European Commission that recommended putting cables underground where possible.
A number of countries have most of their low-voltage lines underground and are burying an increasing percentage of high-voltage cables — similar to those in Eirgrid’s new transmission system.
Prof Henshaw said there were compelling reasons for putting cables underground and that it would cost less than the figure of €600m cited by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the Dáil recently.
Even at that price, this would work out at around €4 per person a year given that the cabling would last between 30 to 50 years.
“This is a small cost and would remove the problem,” said Prof Henshaw, an expert in the field for more than 20 years.
Burying the line means there is no electromagnet field and no corona fields, he said. Underground cables lose less electricity than those overhead and are less affected by bad weather. The danger to people and animals living within 100 metres was largely eliminated. More of the land could be used for farming activities and the landscape would not be spoiled with pylons.
An EU report recommended that to complete the linking-up of electricity networks in Europe, and to increase the security of supply from very high voltages of 220KV to 400KV, especially in environmentally sensitive areas, the cables should be underground.
The amount of high-voltage cable being buried is still quite low throughout the EU, but is increasing. Following storms in France in 1999, the Paris government decided on a policy of burying significant parts of its electricity lines, but its very high 400KV lines should only be buried in exceptional cases.
Storm damage took six months to completely repair and cost €1.3bn. There were 19 deaths from overhead lines in the country in 2000 but none from contact with underground cables.
The Netherlands has all its low and medium-voltage lines underground while Britain, Germany, and Denmark buried most of theirs 10 years ago. The report noted that in 2000 of Ireland’s 5,800km of high and medium-voltage lines, just 75km was underground.
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