Vol. 471 No. 7
418 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the funding, if any, which has been provided by the EU in respect of biomass and biological fuels as renewable sources of energy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22210/96]
In December 1995 I launched a competition, (AER2), to secure the construction and operation of a bio-mass/waste to energy plant of between 10 and 30MW. A capital grant of up to £7.5 million has been made available for this project under the EU funded Economic Infrastructure Operational Programme.
Earlier this year, I launched a new renewable energy support strategy. My strategy sets a target of an additional 7MW for biomass/waste to energy to be secured by the end of 1999. I have allocated an additional grant fund of £455,000, also under the Economic Infrastructure Operational Programme to support this target.
In addition, with my Department's support, Irish projects on biomass, biofuel tests, training and other initiatives have secured non-capital funding amounting to almost £453,000 under the EU ALTENER Programme since its inception 1993.
