Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 May 2022
103. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if there are plans to expand the microgeneration support scheme to make it more accessible for schools, community groups, large housing developments and businesses to partake; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22405/22]
View answerThe phased introduction of the Micro-generation Support Scheme (MSS) began with the commencement of the domestic solar PV grant from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) on 16 February last. The SEAI plan to introduce a grant in July for installations up to 6.0kW for non-domestic applicants, e.g. businesses, farms, schools, community and sports organisations etc. (maximum €2,400). Applicants under the MSS are also eligible to receive the Clean Export Guarantee (CEG) tariff for any residual exported electricity at a competitive market rate from their electricity supplier.Larger non-domestic applicants will be able to apply for a Clean Export Premium (CEP) tariff for installations greater than 6kW up to 50kW. The CEP will be offered at a fixed rate for 15 years, and eligible volumes will be capped at 80% of generation capacity to encourage self-consumption.Businesses that use a large amount of electricity, will benefit most when they consume electricity on site from their own micro-generation. The financial business case for micro-generation for these high electricity users is already very strong.My Department is also developing a support scheme for small-scale generators, i.e. above 50kW but smaller than those supported by the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) to enable larger businesses, schools and community projects to maximise their participation in the energy transition.. A public consultation on a draft scheme will be published later in 2022 and the scheme is expected to become available in 2023.
