Vol. 496 No. 3
48 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the plans, if any, she has for waste to energy electricity generating plants; the megawatts capacity of this energy source; if she will authorise the construction of the proposed waste to energy plant at Godamendy, Ballycoolin, County Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22646/98]
My Department has hosted a number of competitions — commonly referred to as "AER" competitions — to supply electricity to the Electricity Supply Board, ESB, from various renewable energy sources including waste. A number of waste-to-energy applications have been successful in the qualitative analysis stage of the competitions. In order to qualify for a power purchase agreement these projects require evidence of access to the necessary fuel source on a continuing basis over the life of the contract with the ESB. It is a matter for the successful applicants and any nominated fuel source provider to conclude an agreement on access to the fuel source. The current round of "AER" competitions has now concluded and future plans for waste-to-energy plant will be addressed in the "Green Paper on Sustainable Energy" which I will publish later this year.
A report on the renewable energy resources in Ireland "Total Renewable Energy Resource in Ireland (1997)", prepared by ESB International and ETSU under the EU's ALTENER programme, identified practicable electric power, up to the year 2000, of the order of 44.4 MWe from the incineration of municipal waste and up to 18.3 MWe from landfill gas, depending on the underlying assumptions applied.
In relation to the proposed waste-to-energy plant at Goddamendy, the decision of the European Commission to refuse European Regional Development Fund aid for the project has been communicated to the project promoters who have since submitted their response. My Department expects to conclude its consideration of the response shortly.
