Energy infrastructure

In the last 20 years since we started putting wind on the grid, Irelands energy prices have gone from below the EU average to now among the highest. I would also point out that Gas prices were signficantly higher back in 2007.

It used to be almost all to cover the peat power stations ,

if we built a nuclear power station you'd see the pso go through the roof to pay for that -

If we went further into coal you'd be massively paying some form of carbon tax ,

Most of the pso is currently going to older wind farms ( as in 15 year contracts to encourage their construction in the past, newer onshore windfarms get very little incentives because it's a mature profitable technology.

Fixed Off shore wind at scale won't get large subsidies either ,

Floating offshore will ... For a while ,

And grid upgrades need paying for ...

BS. Nuclear is not a financial disaster, that would be a more apt description for the electricity market in Germany - where domestic prices have doubled in a couple of years precisely because they shut down nuclear and coal and went for 'cheap wind'. Same for the uK - the lack of cheap wind has seen the UK consumers - via the government - forced to subsidise a US companie's gas costs in order to have them make CO2. After all this CO2 climate change BS and taxes, they are having to pay to have CO2 made. Irony simply isn't a strong enough word.

All the wind advocates and anti-nukers see interconnectors to French nuclear power as being the saving grace for the complete mess that is reliance on wind. So nuclear power is a financial disaster - unless you are buying the power from the French. Gobsmacking hypocrisy. I'll take bets that the French will soon be running out of nuclear capcity as more and more of Europe comes to rely on them and they will of course do the sensible thing and look after their own interests and restrict how much they export. You shouldn't rely on the good graces of foreign suppliers as the backbone of your electricity infrastructure and supply. If the Russians get miffed at the EU over Nordstream 2 or something, I wouldn't put it past them to arrange some simultaneous undersea 'accidents' to some interconnectors. A large number of military subs these days have ancillary subs and ROVS and I doubt they are just intended for delivering special forces or tapping into fibre trunks. Placing expolsive charges would be a doddle. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/russia-launches-deadly-new-underwater-23838389

Currently, that nuclear financial disaster is pouring electricity from France into the UK, Belgium, Italy and Spain - and probably onwards from those to others:

Everyon's busy sucking on the nuclear teat and you are calling it a financial disaster, as usual. Stone the bloody crows! There is no financial disaster than even gets close to a lack of electricity.

As for Hydrogen: I hope it works, but it's the smallest molecule of any element and it will readily penetrate and pass through most physical materials, particularly if under pressure. I don't see fractured and porous rock that can hold NG being much of a barrier to it. Back in my SCUBA diving days, I once went to use one of my cylinders that had been filled many months previously. I soon noticed that I was breathing heavily and rapidly and cut short the dive. It turn out that Oxygen molcules are smaller than Nitrogen and CO2 ones and that under 3200 psi, tmany of them had migrated through the fairly thick aluminium of the cylinder, leaving behind the nitrogen and CO2, so I was breathing oxygen depleted air. With Hydrogen the physical permeability of 'solids' is a lot worse.

The answer to the problem of wind variability seems to always be some unproven technology that no one else is currently using, but they think is promissing. She'll be right, mate.

Well hunts town and white gate are privately owned and they’re the ones that have us in this mess due to them being off line!

Thats a wholly inaccurate picture you paint - If that was the case then the PSO levy wouldn't still be rising at an ever faster rate.

https://www.businessworld.ie/news-from-ireland/Electricity-bills-to-rise-by-almost-90-a-year-for-over-1-million-customers-574553.html

"The Public Service Obligation levy (PSO levy), is a Government levy that is charged to all electricity customers in Ireland. The money collected from the PSO levy is now solely used to support the renewable energy sector in Ireland "

Should we completely shut down moneypoint though - it's dirty but it's a hell of an asset - it can sit there , not depending on any pipeline with a full stock of coal , for those occasions when the Russians turn off the gas , and the wind is low - ( or 2 newish generators simultaneously go bang ) , yeah it'd probably take a week or 2 to get it up to full steam , but for the cost of it's maintenance it's an insurance policy -

https://www.google.com/amp/s/galwaybayfm.ie/galway-bay-fm-news-desk/oranmore-site-could-miss-out-on-securing-a-new-multi-billion-euro-intel-microchip-manufacturing-plant/amp/

Any article that includes "..the tides make installing tidal energy systems exceedingly expensive" must be written by a total moron.