Building Irish nuclear energy plants 'does not make economic sense', claims Eamon Ryan

Green Party leader says the construction of nuclear plants would be too expensive for a country the size of Ireland

Eamon Ryan said the move would result in people paying even higher electricity bills. Picture: Collins

Building nuclear energy plants in Ireland does not make economic sense and would result in people paying even higher electricity bills, Eamon Ryan has said.

The Green Party leader said constructing nuclear plants here to bolster wind and solar energy production would be too expensive for a country the size of Ireland.

It comes after Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher called on politicians and the public to take their “emotions” out of the nuclear energy debate and seriously consider building power plants here.

Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher called on politicians and the public to take their 'emotions' out of the nuclear energy debate. Picture: Howard Crowdy

Mr Ryan said he “wouldn’t rule” nuclear energy out fully because “we have to decarbonise by every possible means”.

However, he added: “I just don’t see them coming to Ireland, unless something happens with modular nuclear, the smaller plants, because the big ones are just incredibly expensive — twice, three times the price.

So going to the Irish households and saying we’re going to double the price of electricity so we can go nuclear doesn’t make sense.

Mr Ryan added that while the focus is on developing wind energy, back-up supply will be needed on days when the wind does not blow.

He said there has been “an explosion” in the rollout of solar panels across the country, with 10% of energy coming from solar on some sunny days in July this year.

“Also, battery technology is improving, and long-term storage is improving. So that gives you balancing capability and also interconnection.

“We’re building a new interconnector with France at the moment; we’re building a new one with the UK,” he said. 

Interconnector with Spain

The environment minister added that he is looking at the viability of an interconnector with Spain “so if it’s calm and not sunny in Ireland, solar from the south can be pulled up and that’s much cheaper”.

He stressed the potential Ireland has to become a world leader in sustainable energy. 

“I think our issue will be probably by 2030 we’ll have a surplus of wind, about 30 terawatt hours, and how we use that surplus and store it to give us the balancing capability is going to be one of the big developments in the next 10 years,” he said.

Earlier this month, Mr Kelleher told the Irish Examiner: “I think that we’ve lost ourselves in terms of having rational debates around energy; our policies are based very often on emotions, rather than on the science of energy and how we produce energy.”

His call came after a number of others, including Engineers Ireland and Eirgrid’s chief executive Mark Foley, suggested nuclear should now be considered, especially in the context of the climate crisis.