NI energy sector urged to innovate more as deadline for Kilroot nears
FAILURE to adapt to changes in the energy sector has prolonged Northern Ireland’s dependence on volatile petroleum markets, according to speakers at a conference on the future of energy.
As a deadline approaches next Monday for the utility regulator to decide whether energy giant AES can Kilroot near Carrickfergus, speakers at the conference called for more innovation in the market.
And it’s been claimed the lack of an Executive is holding back progress in the energy sector.
AES last year proposed closing four coal-fired units at Kilroot power station with the potential loss of 270 jobs, after it failed
Utility regulator: Jenny Pyper
to secure a capacity payment in December under the new all-island Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM). Such payments have historically subsidised the largest, highest emitting power plants.
The utility regulator must de- cide by October 1 whether AES can close the units despite the three-year notice required under its license. There have been some claims that the lights will go out if the units are retired.
But Ulster University’s Dr Patrick Keatley, a research fellow in energy storage integration, rejected such claims as alarmist.
Dr Keatley, who helped organise last week’s conference, said it is cheaper — and more environmentally sound — to reward consumers for managing demand than to pay power companies to dial up supply.
“We can’t just keep building capacity in the form of centralised power plants,” he said.
“Capacity is owned by the incumbents. Flexibility is owned by the consumers. Why are we paying shareholders to provide capacitywhenweshouldbepaying consumers to provide flexibility?”
Dr Keatley is working with 60 companies and organisations to promote distributed energy and storage as part of the EU-funded Storage Platform for the Integration of Renewable Energy (SPIRE 2) initiative. SPIRE 2 sponsored the conference, which was attended by about 150 stakeholders.
Northern Ireland’s utility governance was set out in the Strategic Energy Framework, developed 10 years ago. Representatives of the utility regulator, the Department for the Economy, and NIE Networks — Northern Ireland’s transmission system — each said policy reviews are underway but the lack of an Executive has stymied progress.
Utility regulator Jenny Pyper acknowledged the status quo cannot continue. “Politicians are focused on price and keeping the lights on.
“I need to focus much more on how consumers use energy and not just on how the industry generates energy,” she said. “The end of life for fossil fuel generation provides opportunities for different ways of doing things.”
She expressed frustration that the prospect of a North South Interconnector to help secure supply on the island has been delayed by the lack of an Executive. “Consumers are picking up the tab for time wasting, uncertainty, and a sub-optimal system,” she said.