Vol. 482 No. 6
58 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the progress, if any, being made with the provision of wind farms; and if he will give details of the comparative costs regarding the generation of electricity by wind, coal, oil and gas. [19021/97]
Under the first alternative energy requirement competition (AER I), ten power purchase contracts were offered to wind energy projects. Of these wind farms, seven are currently on-line to be completed by 31 December 1997. This will result in an increase of 46 megawatts of wind energy based electricity generating capacity.
Wind energy projects supported by the EU THERMIE programme are also granted ESB electricity purchase contracts. This has already allowed for the construction of a 3 megawatt wind farm in County Donegal, with five more THERMIE supported wind farms, amounting to approximately 12 megawatts, at different stages of development.
The third alternative energy requirement competition (AER III) is currently under way. This competition aims to secure an additional 100 megawatts from renewables, including 90 megawatts from wind.
This information requested by the Deputy on the comparative costs of generating electricity from various fuel sources is of a commercially sensitive nature. Taking into account factors such as fuel costs, capital costs and operation and maintenance costs, gas tends to be the cheapest, followed by oil, coal and wind.
