Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 April 2017
311. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which natural energy resources continue to be developed and made available to the public here and counties Sligo and Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16924/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive sets Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020. Ireland is committed to achieving this target through meeting 40% of electricity demand, 12% of heat and 10% of transport from renewable sources of energy, with the latter target also being legally binding. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has calculated that 25.3% of electricity, 6.5% of heat and 5.7% of transport energy requirements were met from renewable sources at end 2015. Provisional data for 2016 from SEAI shows that 26.2% of electricity demand was met from renewable sources. The Government has a range of policy measures and schemes to incentivise the use of renewable energy and although good progress towards the target has been made to date, meeting the 16% target remains challenging. My Department is currently developing a proposed new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), designed to assist in meeting our RES-E targets, out to 2030.
The first Technology Review public consultation on the proposed new RESS was published in 2015 and following the completion of detailed economic analysis on the viability and cost effectiveness of supporting a range of renewable technologies, including solar and wind, a second public consultation will be published in the first half of this year. Details of the next public consultation will be advertised on the Department's website www.dccae.gov.ie. The introduction of any new scheme - including the overall costs and technologies to be supported - will be subject to Government approval and State Aid clearance from the European Commission.
The new RESS will provide pathways for delivering on the 2015 Energy White Paper commitment to ensure communities and citizens are at the centre of the future energy transition in Ireland. Communities are effectively being designed into the fabric of the new scheme with policy measures to incentivise community-led and developer-led community projects being assessed. As part of the design of this new scheme, a national workshop on community participation in renewable energy projects was held in Portlaoise on February 2 2017.
Drafting of a Geothermal Bill by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is ongoing.
