Economic Competitiveness
Strengthening long-term competitiveness
Kestrel strengthens Ireland’s long-term competitiveness by reducing exposure to global energy shocks, stabilising prices, and providing the certainty businesses need to invest and grow.
As a privately funded national scale asset, it delivers high public value with no upfront Exchequer cost, protects the economy from the severe impacts of supply disruption, and supports Ireland’s position as an attractive, resilient location for industry and foreign investment.
Reduces Exposure to Energy Shocks
With up to 90 days of average consumption stored, Kestrel acts as the buffer between Ireland and the type of extreme market volatility seen in 2022, protecting households and shielding industry. It ensures security of supply, strengthens our negotiating position in buying gas and in turn enhances our competitiveness.
- Strategic gas reserves provide a buffer against market volatility
- Reduces cost impacts on households and business during supply disruptions
- Enables more stable planning and procurement for energy-intensive industries
Why it matters?
Economic resilience depends on predictable, secure energy – especially in a more electrified future.
Private Capital Enabled by Clear Legal and Regulatory Framework
Kestrel delivers a public-good national asset by combining private investment with a targeted, regulated revenue framework, ensuring long-term value for the State while appropriately sharing risk.
- Kestrel is developed and financed upfront by the consortium, with private capital covering construction and development risk
- Provides regulated access under CRU oversight where storage is designated for public strategic reserve use
- Both the infrastructure and the regulated support mechanisms that will be developed are based on well-established European precedents, including long-standing storage operations across the EU
- Revenue stability will be underpinned by a regulatory mechanism rather than direct subsidy, ensuring investor confidence while protecting consumers and the State
Why it matters?
Kestrel delivers a nationally strategic asset through private capital, supported by regulation that minimises public risk while maximising system resilience.
Avoids High-Risk Economic Losses
Kestrel directly mitigates the extreme economic consequences outlined in Government-commissioned CEPA modelling, ensuring Ireland can withstand major disruption scenarios without catastrophic national impact.
- CEPA modelling estimates €4.6 billion per month economic loss to the Irish economy from a full gas disruption, which could last over 6 months
- Kestrel directly addresses this scenario, especially in the case of a full outage where FSRU alone is insufficient as per analysis by Gas Networks Ireland
- Energy security is a core factor in FDI and industry location decisions
Why it matters?
Not acting has a quantifiable cost. Kestrel mitigates a known, serious national risk.
