Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the Electricity and Gas Networks Sector
The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment has published a Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the Electricity and Gas Networks sector in Ireland.
This Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the Electricity and Gas Networks sector was prepared in the context of the National Climate Change Adaptation Framework, 2012. As such, it is a precursor to and will inform the preparation in 2018 of, the first statutory plan for the sector under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015.
Climate change adaptation can be defined as the ability of a system to adjust to climate change, to minimize potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, and to cope with the consequences.
The objective of this Plan is to identify options that will help to build resilience against the impacts of climate change, and it focusses on assessing our vulnerability to key climate variables and the likely impacts of such on our electricity and gas networks, based on our current understanding of climate change and its consequences for Ireland.
The Plan is high level and does not consider project or location specific measures nor will it influence the development consent for any energy projects. The specific contents of the Adaptation Plan will not, of themselves, have a significant effect on the environment or Natura 2000 sites. It has been determined therefore that neither a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) nor an Appropriate Assessment (AA) will be required at this time.
The views of stakeholders, interested parties and the general public were sought on a draft version of this Adaptation Plan and the SEA and AA screening reports associated with the draft Plan. The Public Consultation of the Draft Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the Electricity and Gas Networks Sector closed on 16th of October 2017. The views garnered as part of this public consultation (seven in total) helped to inform the finalisation of the Plan.
