Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, has statutory responsibility for grid connection offers and for oversight of EirGrid's grid connection process, including the Gate process for renewable energy.

The CER decision on the Gate 3 round provides for connection offers for 4,000 MWs of renewable electricity capacity. Approximately 90% of these offers are wind powered capacity, including around 800 MW of offshore wind. The Gate 3 decisions, combined with the existing renewable capacity and projects currently being built and connected, point to the 40% target being met and even exceeded by 2020.

Ireland's National Renewable Energy Action Plan, which is to be submitted to the EU Commission by next June, will set out the detailed projections and strategies to achieve the national target. The plan is being developed in consultation with the renewable sector and all stakeholders.

The projects in Gate 3 were selected by the CER on a "first come, first served" criterion. Grid connection offers for projects within the Gate 3 process began to issue in December last year and will continue to issue on a phased basis until mid-2011. The Gate 3 process was extensively consulted on by the CER. Through public consultation and dedicated industry workshops, all industry stakeholders were given the opportunity of responding in advance to the proposed connection process. To ensure the process operates efficiently and to keep the industry fully informed of developments, the CER has also established a Gate 3 liaison group involving EirGrid, ESB Networks and the renewable industry associations. This is an important forum for information exchange, for the transparency of the Gate 3 process and to ensure delivery on time for all parties.

There are undoubted challenges inherent in ensuring that connection offers under Gate 3 are matched by the timely building out of the distribution and transmission system. I have made clear to EirGrid, ESB Networks, CER and the industry that addressing those challenges is a critical priority.

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