Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2023
200. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of community heating schemes that were connected to the fossil gas grid for each of the years 2019-2023, in tabular form; and the number of apartments associated with those schemes. [13373/23]
View answerDistrict heating schemes are large-scale systems that are supplied by one or several centralised or decentralised heat sources and serve multiple buildings and multiple customers. Group, or communal, heating schemes are smaller-scale systems that supply single buildings or complexes. End users in group or communal heating schemes are supplied with heat rather than fuel and the heat supplier in these schemes purchases the fuel at commercial rates, primarily natural gas.
My Department is currently liaising with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) to ensure the development of an appropriate regulatory framework for district heating. During this process, the CRU will assess the specific regulatory needs of group heating schemes to ensure their inclusion in a regulatory framework, as a priority.
As specific data on the sector has not been collected, the information sought is not available.
