There’s Leo Varadkar, promising the public solemnly that there will be no electricity blackouts this winter:
Leo Varadkar says this winter will be "tight" when it comes to energy supply and next year " will be tighter. But says Government doesn't think there will be black or brownouts
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) September 21, 2021
So, you all know what to do: Stop reading this, and go stock up on candles. And lighters. Honestly, it’s the lighters that trip people up: The power goes out and you think “aha, I have my candles”, but then you realise that you stopped smoking a decade ago and have never thought to buy a lighter since. Take it from somebody who knows.
Anyway, the real point is that whether there will be blackouts or not, the country is now in a position where blackouts have become such a live possibility. No doubt, every political effort will be expended to prevent them: Blackouts as a result of the power grid collapsing would be a national humiliation, and a critical political blow to the Government. They will spend as much of your money as they have to to prevent it happening.
But of course, in so doing, they will undermine their entire climate strategy. We know already that the Government intends to supplement the power grid by importing gas-burning electricity generators from Europe. They are considering re-opening power stations that they had shut down on climate grounds.
All of this, by the by, after investing tens of billions of euros in renewable energy. The end result of all that money spent on your behalf is a power grid that might fall over, and now depends on very inefficient imported generators. Vote Green, eh?
All of which poses a very obvious question: Given that the Government wants to reduce emissions from electricity generation, and given that it also wants a stable power supply, why does the country not simply invest in a single nuclear power plant?
Nuclear would be incredibly safe in Ireland. The most recent Nuclear disaster, Fukyshima, was caused, don’t forget, by an actual Tsunami. Ireland does not have earthquakes, or Tsunamis, or much of any natural disasters at all. A modern nuclear plant is about as safe a place as exists on planet earth. One, built somewhere appropriate, could not only power the nation, but pay for itself by exporting surplus power to Europe and the UK.
But the catch, of course, is in that sentence. “Built somewhere appropriate”.
Can you imagine the protests if somebody proposed to build the Nuclear Power Plant in, say, Athlone? Or Enniscorthy? Or Sligo? Nothing would bring out the inner NIMBY in Irish people faster than the idea of a large, safe, skilled-job creating energy factory being located in their town. We’d run away from the idea of local jobs and investment faster than Katharine Zappone running towards an all-expenses paid conference on hate speech in Central America.
So, we’re stuck: The voters have decided they do not want good, old-fashioned, oil, and peat burning. They do not want to sit in the dark, either. They want electricity, but they want to feel good about it, too. You’d almost feel sorry for the Government. Like most acts of foolishness, this one starts, and ends, with the Irish electorate.