Ireland's pathway towards a 100% renewable energy-system: The first step

Ireland has an abundant supply of renewable energy, a dangerous reliance on imported fossil fuels, as well as very demanding energy and CO2 targets to reach. All of these indicate that a major alternation to the current energy system is necessary, especially an increase in the utilisation of renewable energy. Consequently, this study presents the first step towards identifying how this transition may be achieved for the Republic of Ireland. The energy- systems-analysis tool, EnergyPLAN, was chosen for this investigation, as it accounts for all sectors that need to be considered for integrating large penetrations of renewable energy: the electricity, heat and transport sectors. Initially, a reference model of the existing Irish energy- system was constructed, and subsequently alternatives were compared to identify the most effective method of increasing renewable energy penetration. The results in this paper illustrate the four scenarios of a 100% renewable energy system for Ireland: a biomass, hydrogen, electricity and combination scenario. However, these results have been completed based on numerous assumptions that will need to be investigated in future work, before a serious roadmap can be defined for Ireland’s renewable energy transition.