Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The public service obligation, PSO, levy has been in place since 2001. It is the overall support mechanism for peat generation for certain conventional means of generation constructed for security of supply purposes and for the development of renewable electricity. The levy is designed to compensate electricity suppliers for the additional costs they incur by purchasing electricity generated by these producers, including the three peat stations in the State. Peat-fired electricity plants are supported because they contribute to security of supply through the use of indigenous fuels. The peat PSO for the Edenderry plant, which is operated by Bord na Móna, expires in 2015, while those for the two ESB operated plants at Loughree and west Offaly will expire in 2019. I have no plans to end the PSO for peat in advance of the dates for their expiry under the European Commission approvals which were received in 2001. The role of peat-fired power stations in the transition to a low-carbon economy will be an important consideration in preparing the low-carbon roadmap. Interested parties will have an opportunity to make contributions in this regard. The three plants are covered by the requirements of the EU emissions trading system, ETS. Their operators are responsible for the management of emissions from the plants and the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for monitoring emissions in all plants covered by the ETS.

The Government aims to achieve 40% of our electricity requirement from renewable sources by 2020. To this end, my Department is currently supporting renewable electricity generation through the renewable energy feed-in tarriff, REFIT, schemes. Energy from wind will continue to be the main source of renewable electricity generation in Ireland. Biomass has a contribution to make in reaching our 2020 and low-carbon targets. In February 2012 I opened the renewable energy feed-in tariff for biomass technologies, REFIT 3, which includes incentives for co-firing of up to 30% biomass in the three peat power plants. This will further diversify the sources of electricity on the system and assist with the decarbonisation of our electricity. However, it is a matter for the generation companies involved as to whether they wish to participate in the scheme.

See this speech in context