Vol. 533 No. 3
31 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the percentage of electricity entering the national grid which is being generated from natural resources; if this figure is in line with the Government's projections; and the way in which it conforms with guidelines laid down by the European Union. [7634/01]
The percentage of electricity generated from renewable energy resources was approximately 5.1% in 2000. The Government's projection, or target, is to support the construction of an additional 500 MWe of renewable energy based electricity generating plant by 2005. It is expected this will increase the contribution of renewable energy technologies to approximately 12% of total electricity production at that time. This target compares favourably with a proposed EU target for Ireland of 13.2% of electricity consumption from renewable energy sources by 2010.
