Mr. Michael Manley:

I will talk a little bit about the community piece at a micro and scale level. On the question of grid, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has recently published enduring connection policy 1, ECP-1. The "1" is important. That report is focused on the short term and 2020 targets. The question of our future approach to how we allocate grid and how we deal with the community group and how we diversify across sectors will be key. There is a massive amount of solar energy out there, more than we could take. It would also be highly peak and would not be dispatchable 24-7, 365 days a year. We will get a better sense from the first renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, auction of where solar is at in terms of the price mix.

To pick up the Secretary General's point, we must balance the participation by keeping the system stable and functioning but also keeping it price competitive.

The offshore option is quite expensive. The UK commissioned its largest offshore wind farm three weeks ago at a cost of £140 to £150 per megawatt hour. That is a staggering number. All kinds of promises are coming forward of reductions and falls in prices, but at the moment we have not seen those numbers coming to the market. The UK prices are steep.

I am not sure I am giving the Senator a full answer. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities would have to look at how it revises the grid access policy so that we deal with smaller, more community based developers. Again, the question will arise as to what is community. Is it a farmer with 30 acres, or is it a group of people coming together in an area and aggregating what they can bring to the system?