Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 20 Mar 2002

Vol. 550 No. 4

Written Answers. - Electricity Generation.

Liam Aylward

Question:

182 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will outline the progress to date on the commitment given in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness on the development of wind farms; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8970/02]

Minister for Public Enterprise (Mrs. O'Rourke)

Since the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, PPF, was published in February 2000, I commenced AER V, a competition to support the construction of 255 MW of renewable energy based electricity generating facilities more than doubling any previous offer. The competition was oversubscribed and I have made conditional offers of contracts for 362 MW.

Unlike the previous four competitions, planning consent was a pre-condition of entry into AER V. The previous four competitions delivered 130 MW. I am confident AER V can outperform the total achieved under these four competitions. In addition, in the small scale wind category, I allowed a higher bid price; reduced the project size cap from 5MW to 3MW and prohibited any person with an interest in a large scale projects from bidding for the higher prices in the small scale category. This step has allowed bona fide small-scale local community projects to compete with a reasonable expectation of success. I believe these are significant steps forward in optimising the contribution from renewable energies and wind energy in particular. The next step is to deliver my overall target of 500 MW by 2005. I expect to move to the next support measure, AER VI, shortly.

Other initiatives, since the publication of PPF, include the procurement of a digitised wind resource map to assist both planners and developers and proposed investments in grid infrastructure for wind energy projects. In addition, the Irish Energy Centre, which is co-funded by my Department, has put out to public consultation a significant draft investment programme in renewable energy technologies. These mutually reinforcing measures will hasten the optimal contribution of renewable energy sources as set out in the PPF.