Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 67: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to recent statements from a company (details supplied) that it will not develop any further wind projects here; his views on whether such statements are a direct response to the energy regulator's comments that there is no need to develop the wind energy sector at this time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3884/05]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The energy regulator's letter to me took the view that additional wind energy projects can be developed without special support. It did not suggest that there is no need to develop the wind energy sector at this time. I have put the letter from the Commission for Energy Regulation out for consultation in the context of finalising the work of the renewable energy development group. I have already received some responses.

I am aware of reports that the company referred to in the question has decided to invest in other locations. This is obviously a commercial decision for the company and I have no way of knowing whether it is directly linked to the Commission for Energy Regulation letter.

My objective in regard to renewable energy is to put in place regimes that will give fair and reasonable returns and incentivise bankable projects while taking into account national competitiveness and the interests of consumers. If, as a result of the work of the renewable energy development group, we succeed in putting in place a regime that meets this objective, it is reasonable to expect that additional projects will come forward, over and above those already committed. I want to see our target for 2010 being met in full, as a minimum.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Is the statement by the Commission for Energy Regulation in effect an example of the regulator making policy and doing the Minister's job? Is it the Minister's job to set the ultimate parameters of the types of energy this country will use? Is this a step too far by the regulator? Has the regulator a busy time ahead given that we are only days away from full market opening on 19 February?

Does the Minister's statement mean we cannot expect any other alternative energy requirements, AERs, and that AER V and AER VI will be the last? To what does the Minister attribute the failure to bring on-stream more megawatts of wind energy given the existence of those two schemes? Have the issues that arose in regard to the integration of wind power into the national grid been dealt with in the new grid code? Is the Minister satisfied there are no more technical problems in regard to integrating wind into the national grid?

Does the Minister have ideas to bring forward on market support mechanisms for wind power? The company to which I refer, Airtricity, stated more than a week ago its enterprise would be devoted to the other country in western Europe with massive wind resources, namely, Scotland. Is the Minister disappointed this trailblazing company has had to turn away from Ireland because of what it feels is a lack of commitment, by the Minister's predecessor in particular, to the development of wind power?

The British target is still to have up to one sixth of energy created from wind and renewable energy sources by 2010. Given our resources, is the determination of the Department very poor in this regard and, therefore, is the regulator's comment unfortunate?

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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As I said in my original response, the regulator took the view that wind energy projects could be developed without special support. The regulators are entitled to their view. It is not a policy decision by me. The current policy is that by 2010 we will provide 13.2% of our energy from alternative sources. What will emerge following the current review of the renewable energy development group, plus the wider review of the electricity market etc., which I have already announced, will form the basis for any new policies, not anything the regulator might say.

The Deputy mentioned the word "failure" in regard to AER VI, AER V and the other AER programmes. He is being unduly negative in this regard. My information is that the target of 13.2% will be met, which is reasonable. I agree with the Deputy that we must be much more ambitious in the future. When the renewable energy development group and the short-term analysis group have reported, we will need to have a wider debate on setting targets in the future.

The Deputy asked whether there were any more technical issues. I am not sure whether there are more technical issues, but some of the same technical issues are causing difficulties or being used in highlighting the difficulties with wind energy and putting it onto the grid in particular. The Deputy referred to some of them, such as code compliance, wind turbine modelling, wind forecasting techniques and so on. I am reliably informed at this stage that there is 80% certainty of the wind conditions a minimum of 24 hours beforehand, which appears to be good odds. There are other things like constraining off. The physical problems that must be overcome include grid development. The Deputy is correct that in some parts of the country the grid is weak. Wind farms would operate best in many of these areas.

On market support mechanisms, I said at the outset that one must balance a number of conflicting issues when making decisions such as this. There must be fair and reasonable returns for the people who initiate these projects, but one must also take into account national competitiveness and the interests of consumers. The more grants that are made available, if one decides to go that route, the greater the cost to consumers. The company concerned would like to see a system in place similar to the renewable obligation certificates, ROCs, system in the UK. My information is that this would be much more expensive for the country and consumers. For that reason, there is no proposal to go down that particular route at the moment.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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What percentage of our electricity comes from renewable sources today?

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have the figure off the top of my head, but it is less than 5%.