The government does not directly invest in renewable energy projects, however it supports the development of the industry in a number of ways. Grid-scale commercial renewable electricity generators can currently receive support under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS). The 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. The RESS is an auction-based support scheme which invites projects to compete to receive support at a guaranteed price for the electricity they generate. Supports under the RESS are paid from the PSO and the two-way floating feed in premium arrangement means that when market prices are above the bid price, the generator pays any additional revenue above their bid price back into the PSO Levy. The latest CRU Proposed Decision on the PSO Levy for the period October 2022 to September 2023 period is available at: www.cru.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Proposed-PSO-22-23-Decision-Paper.pdf
A cornerstone of the RESS is the provision of pathways for increased community ownership, participation in, and benefit from, renewable electricity projects. To facilitate delivery of this objective, an Enabling Framework for Community Participation has been developed. This includes a package of enabling supports including technical, financial, and legal services to assist communities in navigating the challenging terrain of electricity generation. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is leading in implementing and facilitating these components of the framework. In 2022, €2 million in capital funding has been allocated to support the development of Community projects, which allowed the SEAI to roll out a trusted advisory service and enabling grants service in April 2022. These vital supports will enable the growth of the community renewable electricity generation sector. Future allocations to the Community Enabling Framework will be determined in the estimates process. The Climate Action Plan also commits to the development of a support scheme for small-scale generation (>50kW) to support the deployment of rooftop and ground-mounted solar PV in cohorts that are not as suited to other support measures. This will enable farmers, SME's, communities and others to maximise their participation in the energy transition. I will shortly be launching a consultation on proposed design elements of this scheme. The scheme is expected to become available in 2023. An assessment of scheme costs will be carried out as part of the Government approval process.
