Debate contribution: Energy Security: Renewables

Debate contribution by Ms Kate Nicholl on 24 March 2026.

MLA

Ms Kate Nicholl

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

24 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Energy Security: Renewables

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5463685

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. The motion is about an important topic that affects every household in Northern Ireland — energy security — and how increasing our use of renewable energy can protect us from rising costs, global instability and climate harm. We will hear arguments about why we should stick with fossil fuels, but that would leave us permanently tied to international markets that are unstable and extremely volatile. Think about what has happened in the past few years, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Gulf War and what is now happening in Iran. Those events have sent energy prices soaring, and we have been left to absorb the cost. Focusing on fossil fuels is not only economically and environmentally illiterate but makes us less secure. Greater security, cheaper bills, cleaner water and cleaner air are what the motion is about. It is about increased development in renewables. On security and control, a January 2026 report from Chatham House made it clear that the most important source of energy insecurity in Europe is the fact that countries are highly dependent on fossil fuels. In an increasingly fractured world, where the whim of Donald Trump can raise prices overnight, we need to take more control over our energy supply. We are price takers, not price makers, and that needs to change. It means that we simply accept whatever the global market decides. Rising energy bills are not a new phenomenon, but we cannot keep rolling from crisis to crisis. Consumers and businesses are being hit with rising energy prices, but there is almost nothing that we can do about the cost. We just have to deliver more schemes through which we can try to get help to the people who need it most, but that is not a long-term solution. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has found that one fossil fuel price shock could cost the UK more than the entire additional cost of the transition to net zero, based on the energy-related costs of fossil fuel shocks that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A shift to renewables could also act as a catalyst for further investment. CCC analysis also shows that every pound that is spent on net zero brings 2·2 to 4·1 times its value in benefits. That investment in our communities is what we should be striving for. Lower energy bills are good not just for consumers but for businesses. They would make Northern Ireland a more attractive place to invest, do business and live. One of the real issues that we have is the pace of change and how slow it has been. The Audit Office was clear in its condemnation of the failures of DFE to deliver on the energy strategy. The Department for Infrastructure also has to step up. The electrification of our transport is essential if we are to cut emissions and reduce our reliance on polluting fossil fuels. We need many things to make the transition work: North/South interconnection; east-west interconnection with Great Britain; stronger grids; better market integration; better long-term storage; a more concerted effort on interconnection; an increase in our grid capacity; and the delivery of the renewable energy price guarantee. We are behind on our renewable targets, but that is not an excuse to give up. We should not give up; we should speed up. Falling short should be a wake-up call, not a surrender. We need to do much more in that space. Fossil fuels are also seriously damaging our environment. Sometimes, people view the focus on renewable energy as some kind of leftist, woke idea about something that it would be nice to have. We are talking about having cleaner air and cleaner water. That is something that we all want. It is also about reducing the cost of energy, and that is definitely something that we all want. Seriously ramping up our ability to produce and use renewables is the only viable way of breaking free from the chaos and volatility of globally traded fossil fuels. We have a choice: continue to live in fear of global markets spiralling out of control, with our hands tied behind our back; or get serious about renewables, grasp control of our energy supply and break free of the Wild West of internationally traded fossil fuels. The motion is about greater security, cheaper bills, cleaner air and a stronger economy. That is what a renewables future offers Northern Ireland.

745 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:16 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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