Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2004
272 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the number of alternative energy producers willing to supply national requirements; the most cost effective or with the greatest potential; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31508/04]
View answerConventional wisdom is that renewable energy technologies employed in the electricity market will continue to require special support into the medium term in order to compete in an open competitive electricity market. My Department's support mechanism, the alternative energy requirement programme has operated to date to increase the contribution from renewable energy technologies in electricity production.
The underlying principle of the alternative energy requirement competitions as operated to date is that prospective generators are invited to make a formal application to build, own and operate newly installed renewable energy based electricity generating plant, and to supply electricity from these to the ESB under a power purchase agreement of up to 15 years. Full details of the AER programme, including those producers who took part in the process, are available on my Department's website at www.dcmnr.ie.
Large scale hydro-powered electricity generating stations can compete with conventional fossil fuel technologies in an open competitive environment. In addition, some wind-powered electricity generating plant has been developed in Ireland as merchant plant, that is, without support, in recent years. However, these projects depend on a regulatory code that reassures consumers that the electricity they consume is associated with the generation of an equal amount of electricity from alternative energy sources within a 12-month cycle. This activity was facilitated by the accelerated liberalisation of the electricity market for renewable energy technologies which occurred in February 2000 ahead of full market liberalisation in 2005. I do not have details of the producers working in this market as they operate outside of the programmes run by my Department.
In general terms, the cost effectiveness league table for alternative non-fossil electrical energy in descending order would be large scale hydro followed by large scale on-shore wind with large scale wind having the greatest untapped potential.
