Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
601. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if there is any claw-back provision for the State in place in the event of wind farms which have been financially supported by the State subsequently being sold on for a profit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1300/13]
View answerSupport schemes for windfarms are funded through the Public Service Obligation (PSO) on all electricity consumers. The current scheme is known as REFIT (Renewable Energy Feed-in-Tariff) and the previous scheme was AER (Alternative Energy Requirement). The manner in which REFIT works is that it provides a guaranteed floor price for renewable generation exported to the electricity grid over a 15-year period. By doing so, it provides sufficient certainty to developers to finance windfarms.
Generators who have applied for acceptance into the REFIT Scheme and who fulfil the Terms and Conditions receive a REFIT Letter of Offer. On the basis of this, they enter into a privately negotiated Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a licensed supplier. The supplier is entitled to compensation according to the REFIT Terms and Conditions and compensates the generator according to the terms of the PPA they negotiated. The generators in REFIT are commercial entities. There is no clause in the REFIT scheme preventing the sale of windfarms or requiring “claw-back”. In the event of a sale, generators would notify relevant parties, and the sale should be done in accordance with any conditions relating to the sale that are contained in the PPA the original owner had entered into.
