Brian Stanley
Question:249. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if his Department developed a comprehensive policy on the use of biomass for generating power. [44373/20]
View answerThursday, 17 December 2020
Questions (249)
Written answers
My Department has previously supported biomass for generating power through the Renewable Electricity Feed-In Tariff (REFIT) schemes which have been closed for several years. These have since been replaced by the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), which is a series of competitive auctions. The results of the first RESS auction were approved by Government in September 2020, which consisted of 479MW of onshore wind energy projects and 796MW of solar energy projects. The RESS design has taken into consideration sustainability criteria and electricity efficiency standards contained in the revised Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001 EU). As such only High Efficiency Combined Heat and Power (HE-CHP) boilers fuelled by biomass are eligible to enter the auctions.
The Government is committed to the rapid decarbonisation of the energy sector and will take the necessary action to deliver at least 70% renewable electricity by 2030.