Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 December 2023
11. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of solar farms currently plugged into the national grid; and the number of houses that have been deep retrofitted in each of the past ten years and to date in 2023. [55540/23]
View answerUnder the Climate Action Plan 2023, Ireland has a target of 8 GW of solar by 2030 as part of a programme of work to accelerate renewables to support the carbon budget programme for the electricity sector.
Solar PV is a growing source of electricity and is rapidly transforming Ireland’s energy system. According to estimates from EirGrid and ESB Networks, there are currently over 500 MW of grid scale solar energy generation capacity currently connected to the electricity network with further connections due to before the end of the year.
EirGrid and ESB Networks regularly publish information on the renewable installed capacity (MW) connected per month at the following links:
www.eirgridgroup.com/customer-and-industry/general-customer-information/connected-and-contracted-generators/
www.esbnetworks.ie/new-connections/generator-connections-group/generator-statistics
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's Energy in Ireland Report 2023, which is due to be published in the coming weeks, will give the latest official statistics on both energy generation and also use in Ireland.
The Energy in Ireland 2023 Report will be available on the SEAI website here: www.seai.ie/data-and-insights/seai-statistics/key-publications/energy-in-ireland/
My Department funds a number of schemes to support households to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. SEAI administer these schemes on behalf of my Department.
To promote and incentivise the achievement of these targets, in February last year, the Government launched a package of significantly enhanced supports to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades.
Since the introduction of the new measures, demand for the SEAI Schemes has been exceptionally high among homeowners across the entire country. The information requested on the number of deep retrofits for the past 10 years is being compiled by the SEAI. I have asked SEAI to forward a reply directly to the Deputy.
