Mr. Bill Sadlier:

As part of our RESS submission, we modelled the impact of various technologies for the consumer cost and the cost of electricity. One is looking at approximately 7 GW of additional renewable energy by 2030. To put that in context, we will have 3.7 GW of renewable energy at the end of this year. It has taken us approximately 20 years to get to where we are now. We have another 12 years to treble that. It is a significant leap forward from where we are today. We took the low carbon living scenario and the consumer action profile from EirGrid and we modelled the impact of electricity prices with those technologies. To answer the Deputy's question, they would cut across a number of larger scale renewable energy projects from onshore wind, offshore wind, ground mounted PV, rooftop PV to flexible behind the meter demand response, storage and more interconnection. It was to look at how we can stand behind a low cost, zero-impact cost to the consumer and a reduction in electricity prices. If one starts the roll-out of an additional 7 GW of additional renewable energy on top of the 3.7 GW we have today, it is a very positive story. However, and this refers back to what Joe O'Carroll said in his opening statement, that is a tremendous gap for us to bridge.

The Department needs to embrace RECAP's offer in terms of delivering that. It is trying to deliver renewable energy and to incentivise people to invest but there are issues with planning, which was seen most recently with the Apple case. We are trying to attract foreign direct investment to Ireland but there is no visibility in terms of how one can connect one's projects to the grid.

The CRU came out recently with its enduring connection policy for one round but give no visibility beyond round one. What will happen in four or five years in respect of how communities engage with investment in renewable energy projects? We are looking at greater interconnection, microgeneration and net metering. That is what RECAP is here to say to the committee and we would like to put out our hand to the Department to figure out how we will do it. It is all well and good to publish the NMP and statements but one needs to understand how the plan will be developed.