Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 March 2013
77. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if energy suppliers are required to offer a feed-in tariff for micro generators; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13487/13]
View answerElectricity suppliers are not required to offer a feed-in-tariff for microgenerators. Currently Electric Ireland, on a commercial basis, is the only electricity supplier to offer a feed-in-tariff to microgenerators. They offer a tariff of 9 cent per kilowatt hour for electricity exported to the grid to domestic customers under specified conditions.
The Commission for Energy Regulation, in the past, wrote to all electricity suppliers inviting them, on a voluntary and commercial basis, to introduce schemes for microgenerators, however none, apart from Electric Ireland, has chosen to do so, to date.
In 2009, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) initiated a pilot microgeneration programme. This involved 42 installations of various microgeneration technologies. A final monitoring report on the performance of the installations and learning from the programme is awaited from the SEAI. This will inform future policy development.
SEAI has been asked to provide my Department with analysis of other means through which the microgeneration sector could be supported, apart from through a feed-in-tariff funded from the Public Service Obligation. In view of falling technology costs, the Department has also asked SEAI to update analysis on the costs of varying levels of support for microgeneration technologies, with a view to considering how the sector could be supported going forward.
