"Endless potential" of renewable energy in Mayo laid out at meeting
Mayo could almost double its renewable energy output if new lines are developed and delivered as planned on the county’s electricity grid.
During a presentation on the new draft renewable energy strategy at last week’s meeting of the Council’s Environment and Climate SPC, Acting Senior Executive Planner with the Forward Planning section of the local authority Enda Casey said the county currently contributes 381MW of wind energy to the national grid, which is the county’s predominant renewable energy source.
He said Eirgrid had already accepted a contract for an additional 184MW of power generated in Mayo to come onto the grid with a further 149MW permitted but not yet contracted.
“Those two figures make up 333MW of renewable energy that we have ready to go into the grid that is dependent on the grid being capable to accept it,” he said.
Mr Casey said Mayo needs additional grid infrastructure to support further developments. Mayo’s largest capacity currently is a 110KV line with the North Connacht 110KV Project set to begin construction next year. The proposed line consists of a 60km long underground cable running from the Moy substation in Ballina to the Tonroe station in Ballaghaderreen and will bring half a gigawatt of energy onto the system.
Cllr Peter Flynn said Eirgrid should send a representative to a future meeting of the SPC and members should “put the gun to their head” to ensure there is a commitment to delivering this grid infrastructure to bring the additional power onto the grid.
“We would almost double our output and our infrastructure in terms of the grid is key for this,” he said.
He added that he hopes to see the draft strategy in front of elected members by Mr Casey’s stated aim of Q1 2026 and not any later.
“Key towns should be supplied by renewable energy. Data centres are a dirty word at the moment but there is no reason we can’t have an abundance of data centres if they are run by renewable energy,” he said.
“It is good to talk but we need to do more than talk. We need to get that strategy in place as soon as possible.”
Mr Casey said the county contributes 39MW of solar power to the grid with significant projects at Coca-Cola Ballina and Ireland West Airport to come on stream in the coming years and increase this figure.
He said Mayo would also be embracing a range of other “dispatchable” renewable energy technologies such as bioenergy, hydrogen and battery storage which can be used to cater for surges in demand.
He said there are over 700MW worth of dispatchable projects available in Mayo including 445MW of battery storage permitted in Mayo. Mr Casey highlighted the agri-based biomethane plant under development near Ballinrobe in south Mayo as another example of a successful renewable energy venture within the county.
He added other developments such as the AMETS offshore renewable energy test site off the coast of Belmullet demonstrate the huge potential within the county.
“There is loads of potential in Mayo in terms of introducing smart grids, geothermals and district heating, our potential really is endless,” he said.
All SPC members present agreed with Cllr Flynn's proposal to invite a representative from Eirgrid to one of their future meetings.
