Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 September 2015
166. Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources given the considerable challenges facing the building industry, and the Government's commitment to incentivise renewable energy technologies, his plans to provide a grant for the installation of renewable energy heating technologies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33566/15]
View answerCurrent supports for renewable heat technologies include tariffs for combined heat and power under REFIT 3 and grants for the installation of solar heating under the Better Energy Homes scheme. In addition, Part L of the Building Regulations requires that, for new dwellings, a reasonable proportion of the energy consumption to meet the energy performance of a dwelling is provided by renewable energy sources.
Analysis underpinning the Draft Bioenergy Plan, published in October last year, indicates that an additional bioenergy focussed measure in the heat sector would represent the most cost effective means of meeting a number of different policy goals including addressing a potential shortfall in meeting our renewable heat target of 12% by 2020. Therefore, the draft Plan recommends the introduction of a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) in 2016 to incentivise larger heat users in the industrial and commercial non-emissions trading sector to adopt heating solutions that produce heat from renewable sources.
On 31 July last, I launched a consultation on the proposed Renewable Heat Incentive. While the initial phase of the consultation closed on 18 September 2015, there will be two further opportunities to contribute at key stages in the design of the scheme. Those consultations will be informative regarding the technologies that will assist in meeting our future renewable energy targets. The RHI scheme, once designed, will require State Aid approval from the European Commission and further Government approval. I emphasised the importance of the RHI during my contribution to the development of the Capital Plan which sets out Government's commitment to Exchequer investment of €27 billion for the period 2016-2021; initial funding for the introduction of the RHI scheme is provided in the Plan. It is proposed to have the RHI scheme in place in 2016.
