Vol. 462 No. 5
61 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the grants, if any, that are available to individuals and companies who wish to provide their own private power supplies; and the number of such individuals and companies that have availed of such grants in the past five years. [4972/96]
There is no grant scheme in operation to enable the universal provision of their own electricity supplies by individuals or companies.
However, under the energy efficiency investment support scheme administered by the Irish Energy Centre, a call for proposals for small scale Combined Heat and Power, CHP, issued in 1995. That call is now closed and grant aid amounting to £435,451 has been sanctioned. The objective here is to set up a number of reference demonstration sites which others could replicate without grant assistance.
Additionally, the EU Thermie programme has, to date, been one of the most important energy technology support mechanisms in Ireland. Eight projects involving combined heat and power have been agreed for funding to date, and the total grant aid involved amounts to £1.8 million.
