Mr. Noel Cunniffe:

The Deputy's first question was on why renewables were more expensive in Ireland compared with other jurisdictions. There are a number of reasons but they can generally be summarised by saying that we carry a substantial amount of risk into auctions compared with many other countries, which provide more certainty in their planning timelines, grid connection costs and availability of grid for exporting power. In June 2020, we published a report, entitled "Saving Money", that proposed ten ideas for cutting the cost of developing renewables by 50%. We would be happy to share that report with committee members after the meeting.

Last November, Spain had an onshore wind auction that cleared at approximately €30 per megawatt hour compared with our auction of €74 per megawatt hour. I will give some of the reasons for this, many of which are also applicable to offshore wind. We have seen an increase in commercial rates for renewable generation in Ireland in the region of 250% to 300% while fossil fuel generators have largely remained untouched. Currently, the commercial rates for a 50 MW onshore wind farm are approximately two and a half times more expensive than a 50 MW fossil fuel generator.

In terms of timelines, our projects are in the planning system for a much longer duration than is seen in other countries. We pulled together some figures yesterday to give the committee an indication. Since 2020, it has taken An Bord Pleanála 51 weeks on average to determine a decision on an onshore wind farm. Strategic infrastructure development, SID, projects have come in at 69 weeks on average since 2020 whereas the obligatory time under statute is 18 weeks. No project has met that. This does not just apply to onshore wind but also grid infrastructure, in which regard the average time was 44 weeks compared with an 18-week obligatory time. Solar is seeing projects in the region of one year. We are carrying the risk of planning throughout the planning development life cycle for much longer in Ireland than in other jurisdictions.