Counting the cost of a renewable grid

Sir, – We are often told how cheap renewable electricity sources are, even while the price we pay goes up. Barry O’Halloran’s excellent article ( “Breaking down the bill: where does the money for your electricity go?” , Business, October 30th) goes some way towards explaining this paradox. A big part of the cost of our electricity now goes to pay for the increasingly complex system of wires needed to bring power from the generators to our homes and another €18 billion will need to be spent over the next three years to further improve this system.

This is the hidden cost of adapting the grid to run on many disparate, scattered and largely unpredictable sources of renewable energy . In the debate over nuclear power , the upfront construction costs are often raised. An overlooked advantage is that, as nuclear is a large single and dependable source of power, no expensive electricity grid upgrades are needed. The €18 billion-plus saved on grid upgrades would pay for a nuclear plant twice over. – Yours, etc, MARK SUGRUE, Donaghmede, Dublin 13.