Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2017
491. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will express as a percentage of daily electricity requirements the amount of electricity now being generated from oil, gas, wind, biomass or other alternatives, respectively, including those likely to become available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49446/17]
View answer494. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which he foresees an ability to achieve the targets in the alternative energy sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49449/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 491 and 494 together.
The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive sets Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020. Ireland is committed to achieving this target through meeting 40% of electricity demand, 12% of heat and 10% of transport from renewable sources of energy, with the latter target also being legally binding.
The most recent annual data from the SEAI indicates that 27.2% of electricity, 6.8% of heat and 5.0% of transport energy requirements were met from renewable sources at end 2016. Overall, SEAI analysis shows that 9.5% of Ireland’s energy requirements in 2016 were met from renewable sources.
The following table provides a breakdown of electricity generation from all sources of generation in 2016.
|
Percentage of Electricity supply from Generation Sources in 2016 |
|
|
Source |
% in 2016 |
|
Coal |
15.6% |
|
Peat |
7.7% |
|
Oil |
1.0% |
|
Natural Gas |
50.6% |
|
Hydro |
2.3% |
|
Wind |
20.4% |
|
Solar PV |
0.014% |
|
Other Renewables (biomass, landfill gas, biogas, etc) |
2.3% |
|
Wastes (Non-Renewable) |
0.2% |
|
Total |
100.0% |
Real time information on electricity generation from the various sources is available at the Eirgrid website at http://www.eirgridgroup.com/how-the-grid-works/system-information/
The Government has a range of policy measures and schemes in place or under development designed to stimulate further progress in the domestic renewable energy sector. These include the Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff (REFIT) schemes for the electricity sector and the Biofuel Obligation Scheme in the transport sector. These schemes have proved successful at incentivising large-scale investment in the renewable industry in recent years.
The SEAI's most recent assessment is that Ireland will achieve between 13.2% and 15.4% of its 16% renewable energy target by 2020, indicating that Ireland should be between 82% to 96% to its target. The focus of my Department remains firmly on meeting our 2020 target and on implementation of renewable energy measures, including a new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) and Renewal Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme.
