Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 3 May 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Biomethane Renewable Gas: Discussion

Mr. J.P. Prendergast:

I have done a lot of work with communities and with the Sustainability Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, which work with sustainable energy communities, SECs. Outside of Renewable Gas Forum Ireland, RGFI, we work with 60 or 70 SECs, and we work with 70 communities around solar and wind. Due to REPowerEU and under the small-scale generation support scheme, biomethane is now included in that sector. There is already a platform where SEAI itself can become part of that community engagement as trusted advisers. That is a level of trust, because these plants are all about trust. More than anything else, it is trusting the developer that they are going build what they say they will build. Certainly, there is an opportunity there to use an existing platform for sharing of information, engaging through SECs and allowing those communities, as a gathering, to understand all of these projects as one. It is certainly is something that could be investigated.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.