Thursday, 31 Jan 2013

Written Answers Nos. 120-29

Renewable Energy Incentives

Ceisteanna (121)

John Deasy

Ceist:

121. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to help develop the wave energy sector in view of the fact that Ireland's ocean generated power potential is estimated to be enough to supply as much as three quarters of our energy requirements; the benefit that accrued from the €22 million set aside in 2009 for ocean energy development; and if he intends to offer State incentives to encourage private investment in this sector. [5015/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

Wave and tidal energy is still at the research, development and deployment stage globally and is not yet commercially viable. Ireland’s 2020 legally binding target under the Renewable Energy Directive has to be met across the transport, heating and electricity sectors by 2020. The target is set at 16% of all energy consumed to be from renewable sources, with a minimum of 10% in the transport sector. Ireland has set out that we intend to meet the target through 40% renewable electricity, 10% renewable transport and 12% renewable heating by 2020, which together amounts to 16% of all energy consumed. At the end of 2012, 6.4% of all energy consumed was from renewable sources, hence a significant increase is required in the 8 years remaining.

Wave and tidal energy has the potential to contribute to our renewable electricity target by 2020, provided the technologies become commercially viable in the period to 2020. Our National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) includes 75MW of ocean energy contributing to our 2020 target out of an estimated total of 4000MW required to deliver 40% renewable electricity. This is based on the assumption that by 2020 some early pre-commercial wave and tidal devices will be connected and exporting power to the electricity grid.

A range of supports have been deployed since 2009 in support of wave and tidal development. The Ocean Energy Development Unit in the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has been taking forward the development of the sector through administration of a Prototype Development Fund of grants for industry. SEAI has also been progressing the development of a full scale grid connected wave test site off County Mayo, which would complement existing wave testing facilities i.e. the wave tank in Cork and the quarter scale wave testing site in Galway Bay.

The cumulative amount of expenditure on Ocean Energy in the period 2009 – 2013, including the estimated 2013 allocation, is €19.159m. Other supports for the sector include the development of the Beaufort Laboratory as part of the IMERC facility in Cork, which will see a re-housing of the wave tank facility and will bring together researchers in the area currently based in the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre (HMRC) and the Coastal and Marine Research Centre (CMRC), as part of a broader campus approach with the Naval College, UCC and Cork Institute of Technology, aimed at maximising on marine industrial opportunities.

Research in the ocean energy area is ongoing in most universities across the country and ocean energy was recently identified as 1 of 14 priority research areas by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in their Research Prioritisation Exercise. SEAI has been allocated funding for ocean energy by my Department this year and will be continuing to offer grants under the Prototype Development Fund in 2013 and to progress development of the grid connected wave test site off County Mayo.

Alternative Energy Projects

Ceisteanna (122, 124, 125)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

122. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which applications for wind farm generation electricity have been approved to date; the number of any such application still outstanding for whatever reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5018/13]

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

124. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the currently identified main sources of alternative electricity generation; the extent to which each source is likely to develop in the coming years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5020/13]

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

125. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will outline progress and development in respect of the various forms of alternatively generated electricity which now contribute to the national grid; the extent to which each has become a contributor and is likely to so do in the short and medium term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5021/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

I propose to take Questions Nos. 122, 124 and 125 together. Directive 2009/28/EC known as the Renewable Energy Directive assigns a legally binding target of 16% on Ireland for the share of renewables in energy consumption by 2020. This target has to be met across the electricity, transport and heating sectors and a minimum of 10% in the transport sector is required. Ireland intends to meet the target through 40% renewable electricity, 10% renewable transport and 12% renewable heating, which amounts to 16% of overall energy consumption, commensurate with our target.

In terms of 40% renewable electricity to be achieved by 2020, the technologies through which this will be delivered has been largely determined by the grid connection offers to renewable generators. The grid connection process is vested in the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). CER published a Gate 3 direction in December 2008, which was specifically designed with the intention of providing for sufficient renewable energy grid connection offers to achieve 40% renewable electricity by 2020. The Gate 3 grid connection direction includes a list of specific renewable generating projects to receive grid connections and the type of renewable plant which each generator applied to build. The bulk of these are wind developments, which will play a key role in the delivery of our 2020 target.

In addition, the CER published a decision on the connection of small, low carbon renewable generators outside the Gate process (CER 09/99.) This mechanism specifically provides for the ability of small anaerobic digesters, biomass CHP plants, wave and tidal devices and other non-wind renewable low carbon generators to connect to the grid outside of the Gate process by 2020.

Given that at the time Gate 3 was designed, the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) anticipated that 5,800MW of renewable generation would be required and that the latest modelling from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) shows that approximately 4,000MW will now be required to meet 40% renewable electricity, it is considered that there is sufficient generation in the existing Gates, even if some projects ultimately don’t proceed to build.

In order to deliver on our 2020 targets, EirGrid and ESB Networks need to deliver on the implementation of the Grid 25 Plans. A large amount of grid upgrades and new grid build is required, in order for the projects in the existing Gate to be built out. Figures from the System Operators indicate that over 13,000MW of renewable generators have applied for grid connection offers additional to Gate 3. The take up of Gate 3 is not yet known, pending decisions by the SEM Committee on Scheduling and Dispatch and the issuance of updated constraint reports by EirGrid. The decision about any future Gate will have to be considered in the context of the take up of Gate 3, the delivery of our 2020 targets and the upgrading and development of the Grid and operational changes required to ensure 40% renewable electricity by 2020.

At end 2012, the generation figures for renewable electricity in Ireland were 2005 MW, broken down as follows:

- 1697 MW wind generation

- 216 MW large scale hydro

- 21 MW of small-scale hydro

- 71 MW of smaller renewable sources (CHP, solar and other bio-energy etc.).

Over 17% of our electricity consumption in 2012 was from renewable sources. While we still need to more than double that figure in the next 8 years, progress in recent years has been positive. The modelling carried out by SEAI for the First Progress Report on the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) indicates the following breakdown of technologies contributing to our 40% renewable electricity target: 3521MW of wind, 274MW of biomass technologies by 2020, 234MW of hydro and 75MW of wave and tidal technology.

Exploration Licences Approvals

Ceisteanna (123, 126)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

123. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number of exploration licences issued in each of the last five years to date; the numbers that have returned or position or commercially viable results; the likelihood for such in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5019/13]

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

126. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which positive or commercially viable explorations have identified oil, gas or other minerals or ores on or offshore in each of the past three years to date; the extent to which further development is expected in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5022/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 126 together.

The number of Mineral Prospecting Licences and Petroleum Exploration Licences granted in each year between 1 January 2009 and to date in 2013 is set out in the following table:

Licences Granted during period 2009 – 2013

Year	Prospecting Licences (Minerals)	Petroleum Exploration Licences
2009	66	1
2010	93	0
2011	98	2
2012	102	0
2013	1	0
Total	360	3

While there have been no new commercial discoveries of oil or gas in the Irish onshore or offshore in the past five years the drilling of an appraisal well on the Barryroe prospect in the Celtic Sea has shown encouraging results. More work will be required to determine if the discovery is actually commercial and it is not clear at this stage how long this process will take. While no new commercially viable deposits of minerals have been discovered recently, there have been some encouraging results, particularly in Counties Limerick and Clare. However, it is too early to determine whether these results will lead to identification of commercially viable deposits or to estimate the economic benefits that might accrue.

Details of all exploration licences can be found in the six-monthly reports to the Oireachtas, which I am obliged to lay before the Houses under the Petroleum and other Minerals Development Act 1960 and Minerals Development Acts, 1940 to 1999 respectively. The last such reports are in respect of the six-month period ending 30th June 2012. These reports are also available on my Department’s website at the following links:

http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Natural/Petroleum+Affairs+Division/Acreage+and+Activity+Reports/

and http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Natural/Exploration+and+Mining+Division/Oireachtas+Reports/

Questions Nos. 124 and 125 answered with Question No. 122.

Question No. 126 answered with Question No. 123.

Post Office Network

Ceisteanna (127)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

127. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which he continues to receive updated reports from the Regulator and or An Post in regard to the future role of the postal services and Post Office network with particular reference to the need to ensure the continuation of such services in both rural and urban areas and the utilisation of new technology in course thereof; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5023/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

Operational matters in relation to the post office network are a matter for the management and Board of An Post and one in which I have no statutory function. As shareholder, however, I do have a strong concern in relation to the ongoing commercial position of the Company and I regularly liaise with the Company in this regard. An Post has many strengths and has the largest retail presence in the country. I have impressed on the Company the need to further exploit its unique position in this regard and have been supportive of its attempts to diversify its income streams and to win a wider range of commercial contracts offering higher margins.

I welcome the progress An Post has made towards diversification with its enhanced arrangement with AIB and its agreement with Aviva for the transfer of Aviva Ireland’s branch offices personal insurance business book to One Direct. In the context of the public sector transformation agenda, I will continue to engage with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in relation to consideration, as appropriate, of the post office network for transactional elements of the business of Government Departments and Agencies, and have stressed to my Government colleagues that the network is ideally configured for over the counter transactions.

In relation to postal services, the Government’s core policy goal for the postal sector is to ensure that Irish customers, both business and residential, enjoy competitively priced, high quality postal services. The Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011 has put in place a robust and appropriate regulatory framework for the postal services market.

While I have overall responsibility for the postal sector, the Act charges the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), as the postal regulator, with the promotion of the development of the postal sector and particularly the availability of the universal postal service, the promotion of the interests of users and the facilitation of the development of competition in the sector. ComReg is in regular contact with my Department.

Under the 2011 Act, An Post is statutorily required, as the designated universal service provider, to provide a universal postal service. The essential element of this obligation is the collection and delivery of mail to every address in the State on every working day. The universal service obligation is a form of safety net, ensuring by way of regulatory obligations that a minimum set of services is provided at an affordable price for the benefit of all users, irrespective of their geographical location. It is a fundamental principle of the regulatory framework for postal services and is an explicit requirement of the EU Postal Services Directive which has provided for the gradual and controlled opening of the postal services market to competition. The Deputy may wish to note that the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act of 2011 also makes provision for a compensation mechanism, to be met by the postal industry, if it is found that the universal service obligation is an unfair burden on the designated universal service provider.

Telecommunications Services Provision

Ceisteanna (128, 129)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

128. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if in line with other European countries, Ireland’s telecommunication services including broadband and mobile telephony are updated and upgraded in terms of quality and extent throughout the country with particular reference to the need of the industrial and domestic sectors now and in the future in view of the existence of competition in the context of national recovery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5024/13]

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

129. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the most effective method of extending and upgrading broadband facilities with maximum benefit to the consumer and best value for money and the utilisation of wire, wireless, fibre optics or other systems including satellite; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5025/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

I propose to take Questions Nos. 128 and 129 together.

Broadband connectivity, as an enabling infrastructure for economic and social development, is a critical element of future sustainable economic growth and a priority for Government. In terms of telecommunications policy, my Department plays a key role in providing a supportive legislative and regulatory environment within which competition can flourish and private sector investment can take place.

Considerable progress has been made in recent years in both the coverage and speeds of national broadband infrastructure, with a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. The Government has also undertaken a number of initiatives to bring broadband to those parts of the country where commercial operators have been unable to offer services. The combination of private investment and State interventions means that Ireland has met the EU Commission’s Digital Agenda for Europe target of having a basic broadband service available to all areas by 2013.

The Government, through the National Broadband Plan, which I published on 30 August last year, has recognised that the key imperative now is to ensure high speed broadband availability to all. This is a challenge which faces all Member States who in turn experience different barriers to deployment. The National Broadband Plan commits to ensuring that high speed services of at least 30Mbps are available to all of our citizens and businesses, well in advance of the EU’s target date of 2020. Ireland is now moving to a new phase of public and private sector investment in broadband which will see significantly improved speeds delivered across the country.

As a consequence of the recent multi-band spectrum auction conducted by ComReg, new high speed 4G telecoms services will be rolled out by mobile operators and will significantly increase the speeds available across wireless platforms. In addition, the commercial sector is already making investments in high speed fixed line services, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas.

The National Broadband Plan commits the Government to investing in areas where high speed services are not commercially viable and will not be provided by the market. My Department is making preparations to commence a formal national mapping exercise to determine the exact position in relation to commercial service providers’ existing and planned broadband services throughout the country. This exercise will identify where the market is expected to succeed and fail in the delivery of high speed broadband over the coming years and will therefore inform the level of Government interaction that may be required and the areas that need to be targeted. It will also form a critical input to an EU State Aids application in respect of any State-led intervention. A range of technologies are possible in order to deliver the speeds set out in the National Broadband Plan and the technologies used may vary according to circumstances. This will ensure that citizens or businesses, wherever they are located, have a broadband connection which meets their needs to interact effectively with society and business in the digital environment.