Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 May 2018
75. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the measures contained within the national planning framework that will help to avert the impending fines for missing Ireland's 2020 renewable energy targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21980/18]
View answerThe National Planning Framework is the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government. Compliance with 2020 renewable energy targets is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. However, as my Department has been involved in both processes I will address the Deputy’s question.
In the first instance it should be noted that there are no "impending fines".
The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy demand from renewable sources by 2020. While good progress has been made to date, meeting the target remains challenging. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's most recent assessment is that Ireland will achieve between 13.2% and 15.4% of the 16% renewable energy target by 2020 - or, to put it another way, we will be between 82% and 96% of the way towards the target.
Failing to achieve our 2020 target under this Directive could give rise to the usual penalty applied by the Commission when a Member State breaches a Directive – infringement proceedings. It is only when an infringement proceeding reaches the stage of 2nd referral to the European Court of Justice that the Commission might ask the Court to impose fines.
However the Renewable Energy Directive also provides a framework for Member States to work together towards renewable energy targets. This includes mechanisms which allow Member States to meet their targets by purchasing credits - or what are termed statistical transfers -from Member States that overachieve on their renewable targets.
How much this will cost depends on two factors – price and quantity. How much will we miss our target by and what price will other Member States be prepared to sell to us at. Because of the uncertainty inherent in each of these factors it cannot be definitively said how much this purchase of compliance will cost.
Work undertaken by the SEAI in 2016 indicated that the cost to Ireland of not meeting our overall renewable energy targets may be in the range of €65 million to €130 million for each percentage point Ireland falls short of the overall 16% renewable energy target. However, present indications, based on a trade agreed by other Member States late last year, suggest that the cost per percentage point for statistical transfers is likely to be below the lower end of the range suggested by SEAI.
Contingency planning to explore the potential extent, mechanisms and cost of addressing our target within the framework of the Directive is underway between officials in the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and my Department
With regard to the National Planning Framework, one of the key objectives of that document is to make our planning system more responsive to our national environmental challenges. It commits the Government to integrating climate action into the planning system in support of national targets for climate policy mitigation. This plan will be complemented by the forthcoming Renewable Electricity Policy and Development Framework which will aim to identify strategic areas for the sustainable development of renewable electricity projects and by new Wind Energy Guidelines which will facilitate informed decision making in relation to onshore renewable energy infrastructure.
