Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2022
107. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his Department’s efforts to bring the price of electricity down through the use of renewable energy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28042/22]
View answerThe Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) is one of the major Government policies to help deliver on the ambition in the Climate Action Plan 2021 of up to 80% renewable electricity by 2030. Renewable energy projects compete under the RESS in auctions for support for a period up to 16.5 years under a two-way floating feed in premium meaning that renewable generators will be required to pay back to electricity customers when market prices are high. I recently announced the provisional results of the second RESS auction (RESS 2) which is expected to deliver approximately 414 MW of onshore wind and 1,534 MW of solar energy, a potential increase of nearly 20% in Ireland’s renewable energy generation.
While bid prices were higher than the first auction, owing mainly to international inflationary pressures in input costs, renewable energy delivered under the scheme will pay back to consumers when wholesale electricity prices are high through the Public Service Obligation Levy. RESS 2 bid prices are also fixed over the lifetime of the support with no increases from indexing to inflation.
Renewable energy delivered under the RESS will shield consumers from high prices, reduce our dependency on imported fossil fuels in the context of the phasing out of Russian energy imports across the EU and contribute to communities across the country. More broadly, renewable energy generation such as wind and solar lowers wholesale electricity prices during periods when they are generating power.
