Nuclear generators, hydrogen and battery storage are all options Ireland should explore in order to generate more clean energy.
That’s according to adjunct Professor in economics at Trinity College Dublin John Fitzgerald, who wrote about the issue in the Irish Times.
He said that we cannot rely on wind and solar to replace gas as a reliable source of power.
“Wind, on average, would get about 30% of the electricity the wind generator can produce, because the wind doesn’t blow solidly all the time,” Prof Fitzgerald told Newstalk Breakfast.
“So, you need something when the wind doesn’t blow.
“Solar, you’ll get a bit when the wind doesn’t blow and you have a really sunny day; you need something else.
“You cannot have an electricity system where you all go to sleep and do nothing and freeze if the wind doesn’t blow.”
8/2/2025. Connemara, Galway, Connacht, Ireland. Turbines on Wind Farms in Connacht. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/ © RollingNews.ieAccording to Prof Fitzgerald, new advances in nuclear technology have made it a more attractive option in recent times.
“They’re talking about, sometime after 2030, smaller nuclear reactors,” he said.
“If they come cheap, then we could consider them, but if they’re as expensive as larger nuclear reactors to generate electricity, the problem is that you only want to run them at the most 70% of the time.
“Because we will already have spent the money on the wind and you’re trying to back that up, and nuclear isn’t good for coming up and going back down again to back up the wind.”
Other options
Prof Fitzgerald said that as well as nuclear, another option would be to use wind energy to make hydrogen, which could then be burned instead of natural gas.
“There are a range of options,” he said.
“They all seem pretty expensive, but we need to start thinking about them and investing in research to find the right answer.”
While battery storage would be useful in conjunction with other power systems, according to Prof Fitzgerald, it wouldn’t offer a complete solution.
Main image: France, Drome and Vaucluse, wind turbines and Tricastin Nuclear Power Station. Image: JOHN KELLERMAN. 18 April 2010
