Last week, EirGrid chief executive Mark Foley addressed Cop26 on behalf of the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) consortium. The initiative is driven by a group of CEOs from power system operators around the world who have come together to explore the unprecedented technical and operational challenges faced in integrating large amounts of renewable energy onto their power systems.
Current members of G-PST are EirGrid, AEMO from Australia; Energinet from Denmark; California ISO from the US and National Grid from the UK.
“We came together with the shared belief that urgent climate action is required and that moving to more sustainable, zero-carbon electricity systems is a key enabler in this,” says Foley. “We believe there is an opportunity to make a difference and accelerate the transition on a global basis.”
The initiative has two broad goals: first, to align the best research minds and institutions globally around the real-world challenges faced in operating electricity systems with very high levels of renewable generation; second, to disseminate the findings broadly and help other jurisdictions and system operators successfully manage increasing amounts of renewables and also build some of the broader enabling capabilities that will ultimately accelerate the transition.
I believe we are entering a decade of collaboration which the world has never seen. Covid was the precursor to that
“These are the leading electricity system operators in the world when it comes to incorporating renewables,” Foley adds. “They have come together to help create and share the intellectual property which will help to achieve the ambition of 100 per cent renewables on electricity systems. We will make all of the IP available to developing nations to hopefully make their path a lot quicker and less tortuous than ours.”
Collaborative efforts
He believes collaborative efforts such as this one hold the key to successfully addressing climate change. “You have to ask how you can bring people together to tackle climate change. Do you play the scare card with apocalyptic visions? That’s a philosophical debate. I believe we are entering a decade of collaboration which the world has never seen before. Covid was the precursor to that. The biggest corporations around the world got together with governments to find a solution and vaccines were developed in record time. We are going to see similar unparalleled collaboration to drive carbon off the system over the next 10 years.”
The challenge, Foley believes, doesn’t lie with the technology but rather with the policy community and with people’s attitudes and behaviours. “The engineers have the solutions and will have the solutions to tackle climate change,” he says. “The question is for the policymakers. Is there the will for it? From a leadership perspective, governments have to win the hearts and minds and get people to engage and want decarbonisation and climate action to happen. The mindset where people say they don’t want wind or solar projects near them has to change. Part of Cop26 is about creating a narrative that people can relate to.”
The biggest challenge is going to be to get the people of Ireland on board. Technology is not the challenge
Ireland’s power system has already proven itself capable of meeting challenging targets when government puts its weight behind them. “In 2007 when the government came up with its climate ambition for 2020 and having 40 per cent renewables on the electricity system, most people thought it was mad. They said it was the stuff of green fantasy. But we went out and achieved it. Subsequently, when the 70 per cent target was set in 2019, nobody batted an eyelid. Now the latest plan is likely to push that up towards 80 per cent.
Ecosystem
“What happened in Ireland is that we catalysed an ecosystem of public and private sector investments in onshore wind to meet the target. Ultimately Ireland is now as good as anywhere in the world when it comes to integrating renewables onto the grid.”
Meeting the next target of 70-80 per cent will see other technologies being employed. “We are now going offshore,” Foley notes. “That is proven technology in places like the North Sea. We are transferring world-class technology into the Irish Sea and solar is coming next year. This is going to offer really impressive price points at which deliver energy to the grid. The biggest challenge is going to be to get the people of Ireland on board. Technology is not the challenge. Will we have the technology to deliver a fully decarbonised system over time? The answer is 100 per cent yes.”
And G-PST is about giving countries around the world access to those technologies as quickly as possible. “We are working with research institutions to solve the problem on a global basis. We have to get away from local mindsets. We all have the same problems. G-PST is about developing a co-ordinated approach to solving the problem and rapidly deploying the solutions. Ireland took 20 years to get to 40 per cent. We want to help developing nations to do that in half the time or less.”