Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte, will begin talks with his opposite number in the UK government next month on a deal that will open up the market for large-scale electricity exports to Britain.
Mr Rabbitte launched the Government’s renewable energy strategy today and confirmed that the Republic’s long-standing target of meeting 40 per cent of its electricity needs from green energy will be met.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Rabbitte also said that he will be meeting UK energy minister, Charles Hendry for negotiations on an inter-governmental agreement that will allow the export of electricity generated from wind and other renewable sources can be exported to Britain.
Britain has already signalled that it is interested in importing renewable electricity from the Republic as demand for energy there is growing while it needs to reinvest in its current fleet of power plants.
Mr Rabbitte pointed out today that exporting renewable electricity to Britain requires an inter-governmental agreement.
In the medium- to longer-term, the minister said that the Republic could ultimately export as between 6,000 mega watts and 7,000 mega watts to Britain, as much electricity as is consumed every year in the Republic itself.
