Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2046. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to translate the 2016 EU clean energy package into policy here; and the way in which he plans to support the rights of private home owners to generate electricity in their home and the rights of private homeowners to sell the electricity generated at market price. [33165/18]
View answerThe recast Renewable Energy Directive is one of the eight legislative proposals of the Clean Energy Package. In June 2018 agreement on the Directive was reached which included the setting of a binding 32% renewable energy target for the European Union as a whole by 2030.
The next steps will be adoption of the Directive at EU Council level and publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Member States will be required to transpose the provisions of the Directive by the 30 June 2021. In this regard, my Department will be engaging with stakeholders and also working with legal advisors to ensure that the provisions of the Directive are fully transposed into Irish law.
Ireland supports the ambition of the recast Renewable Energy Directive towards enabling self-consumption and the recognition of the rights, entitlements and obligations of renewable self-consumers and renewable energy communities, and the emergence of the ‘prosumer’ at the heart of the recast renewables Directive.
I intend to shortly announce details of a pilot scheme for micro generation, targeting solar PV and self-consumption amongst domestic customers. The scheme will commence later this summer and its design has been informed by the completion and consideration of the results of a study undertaken by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) into the likely uptake and demand for such a support scheme in Ireland. A micro generation Code of Practice is being finalised in close consultation with industry and relevant state agencies that will detail the necessary safety and technical standards required to facilitate its successful delivery and support an enduring sustainable micro generation industry.
The data gathered during this pilot scheme will inform potential future phases of support for micro generation in Ireland that may be appropriate, as we begin the work to transpose the provisions of the Directive into legislation. The reality is that bringing micro generation onto a system designed for large generators is complicated. It impacts how we pay for the network, how we manage regulation and how we technically manage the system. My Department continues to engage with the micro generation sector and the SEAI to better understand how to validate and further develop these policies in a fair and cost effective manner.
