Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 November 2023
176. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to outline the project stages at which community renewable energy projects become eligible for funding from the SEAI; the amount of funding that becomes available at each stage; and the number of projects that have reached each stage. [49186/23]
View answer178. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of staff in the SEAI dedicated to supporting the generation of community renewable energy. [49188/23]
View answer187. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications about funding accessibility for renewable energy projects; when a renewable energy project is eligible for funding from the SEAI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49204/23]
View answer190. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to outline the support and resourcing for renewable energy communities; to provide a breakdown of staffing to support these projects at the SEAI in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49207/23]
View answer192. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications about support and resourcing for renewable energy communities for energy generation; to provide a breakdown of staffing to support these projects at the SEAI in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49209/23]
View answer193. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to provide a breakdown of costs incurred by his Department for consulting services for renewable energy communities in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49210/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 176, 178, 187, 190, 192 and 193 together.
Through the first two RESS auctions, my Department has provided pathways and supports for communities to participate in renewable energy projects through the application of a community projects category and also through the requirement of a mandatory community benefit fund for all RESS projects.
Furthermore, a Community Enabling Framework for renewable energy projects includes a package of enabling supports including technical, financial and legal services which has been rolled out 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, which include a trusted advisory service, enabling grants and nine information guides on the SEAI website. As a result, my Department has not incurred any direct costs for consulting services for renewable energy communities in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023. There are currently two full time SEAI staff working on the community energy supports and delivery of the Community Benefit Fund National Register.
Given the significant grant programme of up to €180,000 per project, only projects that have completed a full feasibility study are eligible to apply for grants. To date SEAI has provided two grants to RESS 1 projects, totalling €80,000.
In addition, to address some of the challenges associate with grid connections for communities, SEAI is also undertaking grid studies on a county basis to support communities in identifying sites within their locality that are most likely to have an economically viable grid connection. Three such studies have taken place so far, with accompanying community information events highlighting the results. Four more studies are planned in the coming months.Support for communities for the development of renewable projects will now transition to the non-competitive Small-Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (SRESS). The export tariff phase of SRESS, to support small scale and community renewable projects, is due to be launched later this year.
