Ireland to consider nuclear power?

United Kingdom
20/04/2006
Download PDF

Forfas, the national policy advisory board operating under the auspices of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, has just published a report titled “A Baseline Assessment of Ireland’s Oil Dependence – Key Policy Considerations”. The report outlines key policy considerations for Ireland to minimise the impact of a ‘peak oil’ scenario. ‘Peak oil’ is the anticipated situation in which world oil production peaks and thereafter declines. There is no current consensus on the likely timing of peak oil.

Among options highlighted for consideration by the paper are:

  • in addition to short term solutions, Ireland should consider the possibility of developing nuclear energy as a long term solution.
  • other options for addressing security of supply concerns include expanding domestic oil storage capabilities, contracting bilaterally with oil producing countries with surplus production and possibly accelerating plans to develop interconnection with the UK.
  • increased use of renewable energy sources.

The report recognises that the economically feasible scale of a nuclear power station would exceed the capacity of the Irish market to absorb its output. However, if smaller scale power stations come online and the level interconnection with the UK increases, it could become a realistic option.

The options proposed by Forfas are an interesting and useful contribution to the discussion on energy policy in Ireland, and the report also recognises the interactions between energy policies in relation to peak oil in Ireland and the UK.

To view the complete report click here.

Search Filters

Advanced Search

Key contact

Related content