Section 16 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (the Act) prescribes that a person shall not construct or reconstruct a generating station unless an authorisation has been granted by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER).
The conditions under which the CER may grant or refuse to grant a license to generate electricity are prescribed out in Section 14 (1) of the Act, as amended by sections 32 and 16 of the European Communities (Internal Market in Electricity) Regulations 2000 and 2005 respectively (SI 445 of 2000 and SI 60 of 2005).
I am advised that under the existing application process, applicants must provide certain information to the CER as set out in the application forms and guidance notes published on the CER's website. This process provides that applications regarding generating stations below 5 MW need not be accompanied by the same financial information as those above 5MW.
This reduced information requirement is in line with Section 17 (2B) of the Act as inserted by Regulation 14 (c) of SI 60 of 2005, which requires that the CER ensures that authorisation procedures for small generators and distributed generation take into account their limited size and potential impact.
Applications for an authorisation are assessed under the criteria stated in SI 309 of 1999 (Electricity Regulation Act (Criteria for Determination of Authorisations) Order, 1999). Following the amendments to the Act arising from SI 60 of 2005, the CER may now licence the generation of electricity and authorise the construction or reconstruction of a class or classes of generating stations by way of Order. As outlined in Sections 16(3A) and 14(1A) of the Act, the construction or reconstruction and the generation of electricity from such generating stations will be subject to the terms and conditions as may be specified in the relevant Order.
I am advised that the CER is currently reviewing the process for the granting of authorisations and licenses. It is holding a public consultation in this regard and has published a consultation paper on its website at http://www.cer. ie/cerdocs/cer06195.pdf. Interested parties have been invited to contact the CER before 27 October 2006.