Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I did not mean to misinterpret Sinn Fein’s position and I am happy to come back to discuss the North-South interconnector if I did.

The programme for Government recognises the importance of community involvement as new energy infrastructure is installed. Specifically, the programme for Government commits to ensuring that community energy can play a role in reaching at least 70% renewable electricity target. That target includes the introduction of a community benefit fund and a community category within the renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, auction.  We are continuing to work with the EU to agree community participation as an integral part of installing new renewable energy and a route for community participation in the projects.

It is my intention that communities all over the country should be able to generate electricity and reap the benefits in their own localities from the sale of that electricity. In that regard, I aim to ensure the delivery of approximately 100 community electricity generation projects by 2030.

The RESS, will drive the delivery of this objective. Earlier this month I announced that seven community projects had filled the allocated community capacity in the first commercial auction under the scheme. Two of them are 100% community-owned and the remaining five are at least 51% owned by the relevant local communities. In future onshore RESS auctions, there will be additional capacity allocated to the community category and I expect that only fully community-owned projects will be eligible.

In order to ensure an adequate pipeline of such projects, an enabling framework of capacity-building supports is being developed by my Department and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. It includes information dissemination, trusted intermediary and adviser services, enabling grants, soft development loans and a simplified grid connection process.

The SEAI has commenced assessing the next wave of community projects through the sustainable energy community network. The initial call has identified already 20 of the more mature projects for immediate support. This first support takes the form of high level feasibility assessment with a view to preparing them for the next RESS auction. A further wave of projects has been identified for later support. A dedicated telephone number and email address, along with web pages from SEAI, can be accessed to facilitate further community engagement.

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