Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The renewable energy feed-in tariff support programme, REFIT, provides guaranteed fixed prices to new renewable energy projects in proven technologies. It is possible to set guaranteed prices for technologies that are proven or are near to market readiness based on known cost elements. These guaranteed prices allow developers to recover the investment made over the life cycle of the project which can be between ten and 15 years or longer. I intend to expand the eligible categories under REFIT to send clear signals to the market about support for renewable energy technologies as they emerge from the research phase into proven technologies capable of commercialisation.

The development of ocean energy technology is in the research and development phase. The ocean energy strategy, which was launched in 2006, presents a framework for the development of ocean energy in Ireland. This strategy presents a phased road map towards the commercialisation of ocean energy in Ireland by 2020. The programme for Government sets a target of 75 MW of ocean energy by 2012 and the Government's energy policy framework sets an initial ambition of at least 500 MW by 2020. The accelerated development of Ireland's ocean energy resources is a key priority for me. The ocean energy strategy sets milestones along the way for assessing the state of technological development and determining the related actions needed to take the technology and commercialisation forward.

Phase one of the strategy currently envisages support of non-grid connected prototype devices operating in the Galway Bay test site. Indicative measures proposed for phase two include capital grant support for single grid connected prototypes, together with support for grid infrastructure and a possible price support mechanism. Phase three envisages possible support requirements for full scale offshore projects which include capital, infrastructure and price support.

Similar to the development of wind energy and in line with developments in other EU member states, wave and tidal energy technology will require long-term electricity price support until they have achieved sufficient production and deployment rates and have demonstrated the high reliability required to give confidence to investors. A price support mechanism for Ireland will be calculated based on an assessment of the resource and the state of technology development.

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