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T he inaugural Ireland Power con- ference on 24 April came shortly aer Ireland saw 66 per cent of its electricity being generated from renewable sources – an all-time high. This is welcome news with Ireland strug - gling to hit its carbon emission goals, even if the volatility and variability of these forms of generation provide the energy companies with an increasingly difficult challenge of reliably keeping the lights on and not over - loading the network. The conference in Dublin, sponsored by Nokia and ESB Networks, saw the major energy generators, networks and retailers from the island of Ireland come together to tackle the issue of optimising their single Irish network in the face of the trilemma – decarbonisation, affordability and security of supply. It was widely agreed that key to ad - dressing this challenge is improving the interconnectivity of Ireland to neighbouring countries. James Lawless, vice-chair of Com- munications, Climate Action and Environ- ment Committee, stated that this will "off- set" the variability of renewable generation, and with wider-market connection, mitigate any potential impact Brexit could have. The 'B' word was never far from speakers and delegates' lips during the day, although there is a definite focus in Ireland on getting their own house in order first in terms of the energy networks. This will then enable the nation, as set out in talks by Bord Gais and NIE Networks, to look at issues around flex - ibility and optimising the growing distrib- uted energy resources. Rosemary Steen, from EirGrid, and David Manning, director of home energy, SSE Airtricity, both touched upon the impact the electricity vehicles could have on the Irish energy grid – both in terms of challenges and opportunities. Without substantial network reinforce - ment, smart charging solutions, and vehi- cle-to-grid technologies to help manage the load, there are set to be significant problems in the coming years once, or as some people thought if, EVs become more popular. A key component to this smart revolu - tion of the Irish energy system will be the improvement in network connectivity and 'smarter networks', built on the back of im- proved asset visibility and communications. Without this evolution and continual growth, the renewable revolution that is much needed, and beginning to happen in Ireland, will hit a capacity wall, and poten- tially make the impacts of Brexit and more difficult energy trading with the UK worse. NETWORK / 23 / JUNE 2018 IRELAND POWER REVIEW Renewable revolution challenges Irish energy networks The growth of renewable energy generation is providing the Irish energy networks with a challenge on how to harness the electricity, whilst ensuring security of supply and keeping costs down all under the cloud of Brexit. Mathew Beech reports. Sponsored by