Irish 10-year bonds are at 7.6%
The Minister for Energy has just launched a plan for a drastic expansion of offshore wind, wave, and tidal power.
Power generation is a capital intensive industry, renewables are particularly capital intensive, and offshore wind comes top.
There are not enough jobs in Ireland and capital is exceedingly expensive. We need projects that create jobs but don’t take a lot of capital.
Minister Ryan said “Every megawatt of renewable energy that goes onto the Irish national grid reduces our €6 billion annual fossil fuel bill [..].” Government subsidies for import substitution do not stimulate economic growth.
The plan that was put up for public consultation mostly concerns things that will be decided by the Dail after next. It does propose a REFIT for offshore wind: 14 cent per kilowatthour. That’s above the retail price of electricity.