Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 16 December 2016
488. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status on meeting EU 2020 energy efficiency targets; the penalties which will be faced if Ireland does not attain this target; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40909/16]
View answerIreland's Energy Efficiency Target is set in an EU context as part of our National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) at 20% energy efficiency by 2020. In energy unit terms the target is 31,925 GWh. The NEEAP target is not binding on EU member states but the more successful we are at meeting the target, the less effort will be required to meet Ireland's 16% Renewable Energy Target which is a binding target.
Ireland continues to make good progress towards the 20% target. Monitoring by the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEAI) indicates that at end 2015 Ireland had achieved 19,204 of the 31,925 GWh target i.e. 60% of the target achieved.
It is likely that an intensification of efforts will be required for Ireland to meet its Energy Efficiency target by 2020. Budget 2017 will provide over €100m for investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects next year, an increase of over 40% on the provisions for 2016. This will save over 116,000 tonnes in carbon emissions every year, reducing overall dependence on imported fossil fuels, and supporting around 3,000 jobs. My Department has developed proposals for new and pilot measures next year as well as expansions to existing measures using the additional funding provided.
Recognising the potential for the public sector to make a significant contribution to national energy efficiency efforts my Department has developed a new Public Sector Energy Efficiency Strategy which will be considered by Government this month and published in January.
SEAI estimated the cost to Ireland of meeting our overall renewable energy targets other than through domestic measures may be in the range of €100 million to €150 million for each percentage point Ireland falls short of the overall 16% renewable energy target.
