Time for an all-island gas storage plan

Amid energy security challenges, MaREI Director and Associate Vice-President of Sustainability at University College Cork (UCC), Brian Ó Gallachóir has recommended the establishment of an all-island gas storage plan.

Contextualising the development of all-island gas infrastructure – and indeed electricity infrastructure – in Ireland, Ó Gallachóir references the peace process and Good Friday Agreement as having had a catalytic effect in advancing the development of said infrastructure on an all-island basis.

“Five years after the Agreement was signed, the All-island Energy Market Joint Steering Group (JSG) was established, and that was followed by a number of significant developments including a memorandum of understanding between the regulators, the system operator agreement between EirGrid and SONI as transmission operators, and the common arrangements for gas,” he observes.

However, this early progress subsequently stalled following the transition from the all-island Single Electricity Market to the Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM) in 2018. Explaining the reversed fortunes now facing all-island energy infrastructure,
Ó Gallachóir emphasises the role of Brexit, and the subsequent increase of electricity prices.

As a consequence, Ó Gallachóir says, the two jurisdictions in Ireland have become more insular in framing their respective energy security policies. For instance, the Government’s Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 policy document highlights the need for gas storage to assist with balancing the electricity system while overlooking an existing license for gas storage in salt caverns at Islandmagee, County Antrim.

“From my perspective, we have seen a period where the eye has been taken off the ball – due in part to Brexit and periods of absence of a Northern Ireland Executive – to progress all-island energy security,” he observes.

Given that the most recent projections from EirGrid and SONI illustrate capacity deficits in electricity generation in coming years – particularly in medium- and high-demand scenarios – there is an imperative to avoid reliance on emergency generation capacity in the context of ambitious climate targets.

To date, gas has served as a backbone to electricity generation – acting as a stepping stone in the transition away from oil and coal – while increasing renewable energy generation, such as offshore wind and solar PV, comes onstream.

In this context, Ó Gallachóir advocates for “refreshing the All-island Grid Study” as a useful mechanism to ensuring an all-island focus on the shared ambition of a net zero power system by 2035. “That focus should also be turned to exploring the gas storage potential on an all-island basis,” he concludes.