Electricity network will face more demands - ESB chief

Households and businesses will increasingly have to change how and when they use electricity as Ireland accelerates its transition away from fossil fuels, ESB Networks CEO Paddy Hayes has said.

He said the growing use of electricity for heating, transport and industry would significantly increase demand on the electricity system.

Speaking to RTÉ News at COP31 in Turkey, Mr Hayes said new technologies, including rooftop solar panels, smart meters and electric vehicle charging, would allow electricity to be generated and consumed more flexibly.

He was speaking as governments attending COP31 consider a major international initiative to increase the proportion of global energy consumption supplied by electricity to 35% by 2035, compared with approximately 23% today.

The initiative is one of the central elements of the climate summit's efforts to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.

"Electrification is absolutely massive," Mr Hayes said.

He said that as electricity generation became cleaner, it would become possible to reduce carbon emissions by replacing fossil fuels with electricity in other sectors of the economy.

But he acknowledged that this would create significant challenges for electricity networks.

"It'll be challenging because it means that the demand will go up," he said.

He said the expansion of microgeneration, where households and businesses produce their own electricity, was already changing how the electricity system operates.

Consumers already adapting

As more people switch to electric vehicles and heat pumps, managing when electricity is consumed will become increasingly important.

"Flexibility is going to be a key part of this as well," he said.

Mr Hayes said consumers were already beginning to adapt.

"We're seeing the smart use of electric charging by customers, picking the time of day. We're seeing smart tariffs from lots of the electricity companies, and I think we're going to see more of that in the future as we continue to electrify for the sake of the planet."

He also stressed that improving energy efficiency would be essential as electricity demand increases.

He said the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland was supporting households, communities and industry in efforts to reduce unnecessary energy consumption.

Mr Hayes said electrification would deliver its full climate benefits only if the electricity being used was increasingly generated from clean sources.

He pointed to Ireland's progress in phasing out coal and peat in electricity generation, including the closure of coal-fired generation at Moneypoint in Co Clare.

He said the challenge now was to continue decarbonising electricity generation while extending the use of clean electricity into transport, heating and industry.

The ESB chief said this would also have important benefits for energy security and affordability.

Mr Hayes welcomed Ireland's presence at COP31 during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, saying the country had an important contribution to make to international discussions about the energy transition.

He drew a comparison between the current transformation of Ireland's energy system and the rural electrification programme of the last century.

ESB will celebrate its centenary next year.

Mr Hayes said the original electrification of Ireland had been described as a "quiet revolution", and the changes now under way represented another important stage in the country's development.

"This is a different type of electrification, just as important, that's already started, and it's going to be really important that we drive it through to 2035."

He summed up the challenge facing Ireland and other countries: "The future is increasingly clean electricity, and then using that clean electricity to electrify industry, electrify heat, electrify transport, effectively electrify society."