Moneypoint biomass strategy ‘could end pylon plan’

Ireland’s target of having 40 per cent of energy needs met by renewable sources by 2020 could be met in a single stroke if the

Moneypoint

power station in Co Clare were converted from coal to

biomass

, according to a UK-based energy analyst working for ReThink Pylons, one of the groups opposing EirGrid’s

Grid25

pylons project.

Malcolm Brown of BW Energy said yesterday that converting Moneypoint's three coal-fired boilers, one at a time over an extended period, would cost €380 million. Moneypoint electricity generated from burning biomass (mainly wood pellets) instead of coal would add 25 per cent to the existing 19.6 per cent of renewable energy already produced in the State. The two together would exceed the 40 per cent renewal target, he said.

Converting Moneypoint would cut out the need for the €3.8 billion cost of increasing Ireland’s windpower capacity necessary under Government plans to meet the 40 per cent target, he argued.

In a report prepared for ReThink Pylons, he also argued that converting Moneypoint would remove the €2.3 billion cost of the Grid25 pylon project and the €600 million cost of the interconnector with the UK to stabilise the power network due to its planned reliance on wind.

The report, Review of the Irish Government's Strategy for Compliance with the European Directive 2009/2 , is available from rethinkpylons.org.