Green recovery can create thousands of jobs and deliver Net-Zero in Ireland

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, SSE has written to Irish Minister for Climate Action, Communications Networks and Transport, Eamon Ryan T.D., with five main goals for achieving a green economic recovery.

SSE claims that decarbonization funding for the energy sector will help build and preserve thousands of jobs in all regions.

SSE identifies concrete opportunities to create a win-win for economy and environment by enabling private investment in low-carbon infrastructure and helping people decarbonize their homes and businesses in its five-point ‘greenprint’.

The objectives include promoting the development of onshore and offshore wind projects, such as phase 2 of Arklow Bank wind park in the Irish Sea proposed by SSE; empowering customers through energy-efficiency and micro-generation; and electrifying the heat and transport sectors.

The five priorities set out in SSE’s ‘greenprint’ for economic recovery are:

1. Facilitate deployment of 1GW of offshore wind by 2025 to meet the 5GW target by 2030.
2. Continue the success story of onshore wind through balanced planning standards.
3. Provide customers with attractive decarbonization options, particularly energy efficiency and microgeneration.
4. Decarbonize flexible thermal generation by strengthening carbon pricing and system stability services.
5. Electrify heat and transport to harness progressive decarbonization of electricity supply.

“It is encouraging to see climate action and renewable energy feature so prominently in the ambitions set out in the Programme for Government. However, we now need swift action in a number of key priority areas to ensure we are maximizing the economic opportunities as we rebound from the coronavirus crisis.

“SSE stands ready to invest billions of euro to deliver the low-carbon infrastructure we need, boosting our economy and creating a cleaner, greener society for generations to come. With the imperative of tackling climate change, we can support thousands of jobs in all regions of the country, building stronger, sustainable domestic supply chains that increase our self-sufficiency and security.

“It’s clear that decarbonising our electricity system is the key to greening other sectors and we believe a net-zero power system by 2040 has to be the starting point for achieving a net-zero society by 2050.”