National electrification plan to be published in effort to cut oil and gas reliance

The Government is to publish a national electrification plan before the end of the year in a move aimed at reducing reliance on gas and oil.

The plan follows an announcement during the summer when Minister for Climate Darragh O’Brien said he wanted to begin the transition to a “fully electrified society”.

Despite progress in developing renewable energy, Ireland remains almost 80 per cent reliant on burning fossil fuels for power, heat and transport.

“We are still too dependent on imported fossil [fuels],” O’Brien told a conference on the Cop31 global climate summit which begins in Turkey next week.

“We’re going to be publishing our own electrification action plan for this country as to how we can accelerate our transition away from fossil,” he said.

He defended progress to date, including the growth of wind energy and the unexpectedly rapid increase in solar energy.

“And we have within our grasp in the near term massive offshore wind capacity,” he said.

“But also more importantly is helping families and helping businesses and households to reduce their own use and use better energy.”

He signalled further supports for retrofitting, electric vehicles and electrification of public transport.

“We’ve a lot more work to do to be fair,” he said.

The Minister also said the long-delayed climate action plan for 2026 would go to Cabinet for approval next Tuesday with the 2027 plan included in it.

He said it would contain 18 “high-impact” actions aimed at accelerating emissions reductions.

The timing is significant as O’Brien is due to travel next Thursday to Cop31 where he and EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra will lead the EU delegation in the negotiations.

The minister said Ireland could go “with credibility” despite being behind on climate plans and being far off track in meeting national and EU emission reduction targets.

“I think we can go there with credibility about what we have done but also honesty about what more we need to do,” he said.

The conference, hosted by Dóchas, the network of international aid and development organisations, heard from speakers from Ireland and overseas about the severe impacts of climate change on vulnerable countries and communities.

Professor John Sweeney, a founder of the ICARUS climate research centre at Maynooth University, told the conference all the indications of climate change, including temperature increase, ice melt and sea level rise, were going rapidly in the wrong direction.

He said Ireland was in “carbon debt” to the developing world, having long ago used more than its fair share of fossil fuels.

“Certainly we are not climate champions. A lot of spin, a lot of political rhetoric is being expended.

“Since 1990, the EU has reduced its emissions by 40 per cent. Ireland has managed around five per cent. So we’re by no means a climate leader.”