Renewables alone not the answer and we risk paying a high price for investment failure

A NUMBER of commentators have recently suggested that the answer to current energy prices lies in the more extensive use of renewable energy. There is no doubt renewables have a major role to lay in our energy mix.

However, a simple analysis should not be that renewable energy alone is the solution to Ireland’s current energy problems. Such a view will not help to develop competitive energy prices for the future.

Firstly, it needs to be acknowledged that a failure to invest sufficiently in the network and appropriate generation technology in the 1980s and 1990s has resulted in a substandard electricity system today. The system remains highly congested and it relies on a significant number of ageing and poorly performing generating plants. This is part of the reason for high energy prices in Ireland today.