Ireland is "sitting on a vast reservoir of renewable energy" which, if all of it was exploited, could produce most of the State's electricity requirements, according to Mr Joe Jacob, Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise.
He was referring to an extensive study by ESB International which concluded that Ireland's renewable energy resource, including wind power and energy derived from biomass and municipal waste, could generate 2,500 megawatts of electricity.
Although this would equal the combined generating capacity of the ESB's largest two power stations, Poolbeg, in Dublin, and Moneypoint, on the Shannon Estuary, the cost per unit would be up to 10p a kilowatt hour, making it completely uneconomical.
Nevertheless, Mr Jacob said yesterday, the study provided a very useful benchmark in energy planning and would be examined carefully in the context of a forthcoming Green Paper on Sustainable Energy, expected to be completed later this year.
The ESBI study was submitted to the Department and the European Commission in April 1997, but its publication was held back in case it might influence the latest competition among private developers for alternative energy contracts.
Mr Pat McCullen, the ESBI's project manager, said the study was intended as a reasoned contribution to the debate on alternative energy. "It takes a middle ground, not advocating anything or ruling out anything. What it does is set out the facts."
All forms of renewables are covered, including wind, hydro, solar, biomass and wave power. The study also examined the potential to generate electricity from landfill gas, forest waste and the combustion of agricultural slurry.
Mr McCullen estimated that about half of the annual volume of municipal solid waste produced in Ireland could be incinerated, with the energy converted into electricity. This would only be viable in large centres of population such as Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
He said the study would be particularly valuable to local authority planners in the task of incorporating renewable energy in county development plans, as it provides grid references to the sites with the highest potential, notably in the case of wind power.
The 320-page ESBI report, which contains 135 tables and 71 diagrams, will also be of interest to investors, consultants, developers, land-owners, students and environmentalists. It is available from ESBI, 18-21 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, priced £121 (including VAT).
