Earlier this year I announced measures to encourage the on-site generation of electricity from wind turbines and other renewable technologies in homes and farms across Ireland. Among the measures is a guaranteed price of 19 cent per kilowatt hour for electricity produced and exported to the national grid. This feed-in tariff will apply to the first 4,000 microgeneration installations countrywide over the next 3 years. Local generators will have the ability to be paid by ESB for electricity that is surplus to their own requirements and exported back to the grid.
Financial assistance has however been made available to a number of sites which will be studied in field trials in 2009 and 2010. The aim of the trials is to, among other things, collect data on the performance and effectiveness of micro generation in the Irish context. The field trials are intended to assist in resolving certain technical issues including the requirements for qualification and certification of technologies and defining the necessary arrangements for qualification, certification and training of installers.
The purchase of wind turbines by companies became eligible for accelerated capital allowances in September 2009 through Statutory Instrument 393 of 2009. To be eligible for the accelerated capital allowance, the turbines must comply with the eligibility criteria set out in the statutory instrument. In particular, they must have a rating of greater than 5kW and be for the purpose of generation of electricity primarily for on-site use by the company.