Climate change means outage risk gets worse

Action is needed to avoid storm disruption to energy & transport

- BY CILLIAN SHERLOCK

URGENT action is required to mitigate the risks of disruption to energy and transport infrastructure due to climate change, according to a new report.

There is “significant risk” of disruption and damage to communications as well as energy distribution infrastructure due to extreme wind, the Environmental Protection Agency has said.

Ireland's exposure to these risks was recently demonstrated through the unprecedented number of power and communications outages from Storm Eowyn in February.

Urgent action is also needed within five years over the threat of disruption and damage to buildings and transport infrastructure due to extreme wind, coastal erosion and coastal flooding.

Ireland's coastline is already experiencing the impacts of coastal erosion and flooding.

The EPA has identified 115 risks from projected changes in climate conditions, 43 of which fall into the significant category.

Additional significant risks it says should be prioritised for further investigation in the next five years include risks to the built environment and human health from flooding and heat.