Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 October 2018
553. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the breakdown of supports on offer to renewable energy start-ups here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42223/18]
View answer554. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the percentage of the energy matrix which is renewable energy, that is, wind, water and solar; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42224/18]
View answer555. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to increase the renewable energy infrastructure here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42225/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 553 to 555, inclusive, together.
The main support for start-up companies seeking to grow their business comes though the Department of Enterprise, Business and Innovation and their agencies such as Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices.
In terms of supports for energy there are several programmes funded from the Exchequer and administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The Better Energy Communities (BEC) Scheme funds community based partnerships to improve the energy efficiency of the building stock in their area. Upgrades can take place across building types to reduce energy use and costs, Partnerships can be between the public and private sectors, domestic and non-domestic sectors, commercial and not-for-profit organisations and energy suppliers, and leverage considerable additional private investment. The BEC supports renewable energy projects as well as energy efficiency projects. In 2018, 37 projects have been approved funding totalling €22m.
The Sustainable Energy Communities (SEC) Programme provides the first step for communities in learning how to develop local partnerships to manage and conserve their energy before they apply to the Better Energy Communities Scheme. A SEC aims to be energy efficient, to use renewable energy where feasible and to develop decentralised energy supplies. The community can include all the different energy users in the area including; homes, sports clubs, community centres, churches and businesses. Over 200 community groups have signed up to the SEC network since it was launched in 2015 and are availing of technical support and mentoring from SEAI. In 2018, 17 Sustainable Energy Community projects have been offered grants totalling €2.44million, to enable them to carry out smaller energy projects as identified in their Energy Master Plans.
Turning to offshore renewable energy there are a range of supports available to developers in bringing their devices from prototype to full scale commercial viability. Exchequer support for ocean research, development and demonstration has been provided to the sector in recent years and was increased under the Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP). The Department’s multi-annual ocean energy development budget was increased by €21.3 million, covering the period 2013 to 2017, which brought the total cumulative funding to €31.05 million. This funding supports the development of the test facilities in counties Mayo, Galway and Cork, and the Prototype Development Fund (PDF). The PDF supports innovation by providing funding to offshore renewable energy development projects.
Since 2009, the Fund has supported 110 projects. 18 projects are currently being funded, with a further 6 being evaluated by SEAI and 10 that have already been completed in 2018. A further €4.75 million has been allocated to Ocean Energy development in 2018.
Finally, the SEAI Research, Development & Demonstration Fund invests in innovative energy projects which contribute to Ireland's transition to a clean and secure energy future. The SEAI RD&D Funding Programme aims to:
- Accelerate the development and deployment in the Irish marketplace of competitive energy-related products, processes and systems
- Support solutions that enable technical and other barriers to market uptake to be overcome
- Grow Ireland's national capacity to access, develop and apply international class RD&D
- Provide guidance and support to policy makers and public bodies through results, outcomes and learning from supported energy projects.
The 2019 Call is expected to open for applications from late Q4 2018. Further details of the RD&D Programme can be found at:
https://www.seai.ie/grants/research-funding/research-development-and-demonstration-fund/
In relation to renewable energy, the 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive sets Ireland a target of meeting 16% of our energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020, and we have committed to achieve this 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 30.1% of electricity, 6.9% of heat and 7.2% of transport energy requirements were met from renewable sources at end 2017. Overall, SEAI analysis shows that 10.6% of Ireland’s energy requirements in 2017 were met from renewable sources.
Electricity production from wind energy has increased to the point that it accounted for 84% of the renewable electricity generated in 2017. The following table sets out the contributions from the different renewable energy sources in 2017.
|
Renewables Electricity % |
2017 |
|
Hydro (normalised) |
2.4 |
|
Wind (normalised) |
25.2 |
|
Biomass |
1.8 |
|
Landfill Gas |
0.5 |
|
Biogas |
0.1 |
|
Solar |
0.04 |
|
Renewables Electricity (overall) |
30.1 |
Electricity generated from biomass accounted for 6% of renewable electricity in 2017. Provisional figures for 2018 up to the end of August show that wind generation has increased by 6.6% while overall electricity demand increased by 2.4%.
The Government has adopted a range of policy measures and schemes to incentivise the use of renewable energy including the Renewable Energy Feed-In-Tariff (REFIT) schemes. In addition, the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), approved by Government in July, is designed to assist Ireland in meeting its renewable energy contributions out to 2030. It is expected that the first renewable electricity auctions will take place under the RESS in 2019.
The Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) also launched this year, is open to all non-domestic heat users not operating in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The purpose of the scheme is to reduce the use of fossil fuels within the heating sector.
Turning finally to energy infrastructure, Ireland’s statutory National Transmission System Operator (TSO), EirGrid, has a key role in planning for the development of renewable energy infrastructure and the electricity transmission system to meet the future needs of society. This involves detailed analysis of electricity demand, electricity supply, electricity storage and interconnection, and locations of electricity demand and supply. A process is currently underway to consider a range of possible ways that energy usage may change in the future, and a series of scenarios are central to an extensive consultation that is being undertaken, covering four scenarios; Steady Evolution, Low Carbon Living, Slow Change, and Consumer Action. Details of this process are contained within Eirgrid’s Tomorrow’s Energy Scenarios available at http://www.eirgridgroup.com/customer-and-industry/energy-future/.
