The National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) sets out 90 actions that Government is either already taking or will take in the period to 2020 to achieve the national energy efficiency targets of 20% across the economy and 33% in the public sector. The savings identified in the Action Plan represent approximately €1.6 billion in avoided energy costs for the economy in 2020. The second Action Plan was approved by Government recently and will be published shortly. The Plan provides a progress report on delivery of the national energy efficiency objectives and shows that Ireland is on track to deliver the 20% energy savings target by 2020. It will also set out a range of energy saving actions in the public sector, which will be prioritised between now and 2020.
The public sector is estimated to spend more than €500 million per annum on energy. Achieving the 33% savings target for the public sector would save at least €150 million each year in expenditure. This Government remains firmly committed to meeting this target. In order to underpin delivery of the national energy savings target, my Department and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is working together to establish a comprehensive monitoring and reporting system whereby all energy usage in the Public Sector will be accounted for and progress will be systematically recorded. I recently wrote to the head of each of the public bodies, reminding them of their obligation to report annually their energy usage to the SEAI. Enclosed with each letter was the SEAI report: ‘Energy Use in the Public Sector’, which outlines savings achieved to date across the public sector to end-2010 amount to 650 GWh.
This year the SEAI has targeted the top 135 public bodies, which account for over 95% of public sector energy consumption. These organisations will submit detailed energy and activity data to the SEAI. From this data, detailed progress scorecards will be produced for each organisation. From 2013 on, an SEAI online energy data system will facilitate all public bodies and schools to report detailed energy data and allow the SEAI to prepare detailed scorecards for all public bodies.
Since 2009, my Department through the SEAI has supported over 140 public sector retrofit projects. This year the Better Energy Workplaces 2012 Fund has offered support to 145 projects – 44 of which are in the public sector. This scheme has developed public sector and market competence and capacity for Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS) type models. I recently approved the formation of an action group and work is underway to develop and deliver in 2013, a national framework for energy performance contracting, which will stimulate mass scale retrofitting projects across the public sector. This has been complemented by the Government decision to require all public sector bodies to go out to the market for energy services if their energy spend is more than €500,000 per year. The energy performance contracting framework will allow public bodies to implement projects whilst, most importantly, not relying on additional public expenditure to do so, thus not impacting on their capital budgets whilst also reducing their operating costs.
The recently adopted Energy Efficiency Directive will translate elements of the European Efficiency Plan into binding measures on Member States, including an annual rate of renovation for central Government buildings of 3%; an inventory of central Government buildings with a total useful floor area over certain thresholds; and an obligation on public bodies to procure products, services and buildings with high energy efficient performance. The 3% renovation target for central Government buildings represents a challenge for the Office of Public Works (OPW), however, the energy savings will greatly outweigh the costs of renovation. My Department will work closely with the OPW over the coming months to prepare a plan for the realisation of this target.
As outlined above, considerable progress with accompanying savings is being made in energy efficiency in the public sector. The Deputy can be assured of my strong commitment to realising the goals we have set for energy efficiency in the public sector.
