Ireland’s excess green energy could fill peaks in UK demand

AN IRISH think-tank, Spirit of Ireland, has taken the first step to creating a network of reservoirs that could supply Britain with clean energy.

The green group has identified 50 sites that would be suitable for reservoirs to create hydroelectricity. The idea is to use surplus energy from wind turbines to pump water uphill to reservoirs. When demand is high, the process would be reversed and water would be released to create power, as is done in hydroelectric dams.

Spirit of Ireland believes that three such reservoirs costing £1billion each could create five gigawatts in total, or five billion watts.

The UK’s usual electricity demand is 40GW, however this rises to 60GW at peaks. If the scheme is implemented the electricity would be exported through a new pipe to supplement the existing interconnector running between Ireland and Wales.

Spirit of Ireland has just begun to raise money for the project, its spokesman said.

Energy Minister Charles Hendry met counterparts from Ireland and the Channel Islands last year to discuss how the three areas could use wind and wave power.

He said: ‘There is a massive potential source of clean, green secure energy that remains untapped in the Irish Sea and onshore in Ireland,’ he said.

‘Because Ireland’s energy demand is only slightly larger than that of Yorkshire and Humberside, there has been little incentive to exploit the resource.’

Britain has recently been criticised for falling short of its targets for constructing wind power plants and for cutting its carbon emissions. Importing clean power could help to resolve the problem.