The primary support mechanisms for renewable energy, including wind farms, are the Alternative Energy Requirement (AER) schemes and the Renewable Energy Feed-In-Tariff (REFIT) schemes. These schemes were introduced to incentivise the development of the renewable electricity generation capacity necessary to allow Ireland to meet its target of 40% of electricity demand from renewable generation by 2020. This target must be achieved in order for Ireland to meet its binding obligation of 16% of total energy demand to be from renewable sources by 2020.
The estimates for how much subsidy is funded by way of the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy each year since 2010-11 are published in the annual PSO decision by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). While the bulk of subsidies for renewable electricity generation paid under REFIT schemes have been for wind, the CER has initiated a project to generate a report on the annual and cumulative costs to date in relation to REFIT schemes for each technology supported. The following table presents the costs for REFIT since 2010-11:
|
Year
|
REFIT
|
|
|
€m
|
|
2013/14
|
51.1 (projected)
|
|
2012/13
|
47.5
|
|
2011/12
|
35.8
|
|
2010/11
|
29.7
|
While a county by county breakdown of allocations under REFIT is not available, the following table sets out the number of REFIT wind energy projects by county:
|
County
|
No. of projects
|
|
Cavan
|
4
|
|
Clare
|
3
|
|
Cork
|
21
|
|
Donegal
|
26
|
|
Dublin
|
1
|
|
Galway
|
3
|
|
Kerry
|
27
|
|
Kildare
|
0
|
|
Kilkenny
|
5
|
|
Laois
|
1
|
|
Leitrim
|
5
|
|
Limerick
|
13
|
|
Louth
|
1
|
|
Mayo
|
9
|
|
Meath
|
1
|
|
Monaghan
|
1
|
|
Offaly
|
3
|
|
Roscommon
|
4
|
|
Sligo
|
3
|
|
Tipperary
|
22
|
|
Waterford
|
4
|
|
Westmeath
|
1
|
|
Wexford
|
12
|
|
Wicklow
|
2
|
REFIT schemes are designed to provide renewable electricity generators with the certainty required to finance their projects. Based around Power Purchase Agreements between generators and electricity suppliers, REFIT schemes guarantee a minimum floor price for each unit of electricity exported to the grid over a defined period. Costs associated with the REFIT schemes are payable from the PSO fund, which is raised by a levy on all electricity consumers. Allocations from the PSO fund are made by the CER on the basis of a minimum price per kilowatt hour for the amount of electricity exported to the grid by each REFIT project for the duration of a scheme.
