Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Question 110: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding the future of wind farming; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30935/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Last month, I launched a new Strategy for Renewable Energy 2012–20. Under this strategy the development of wind farms in Ireland will play a critical role in delivering on our renewable energy ambitions, both in terms of meeting our own national 2020 targets and in contributing to the development of a renewable electricity export market with the UK in the first instance.

There has been considerable growth in the deployment of wind farms in Ireland from around 300 MW of capacity in 2005, to over 1,600 MW of capacity operational in the market today. The latest forecasts from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland as to the amount of renewable generation required to meet our 40% renewable electricity target is around 4,000 MW of operational capacity, subject to achieving our energy efficiency goals.

Currently, approximately 1,900 MW of renewable generation is connected to the grid, including over 1,600 MW of wind generation. A further 1,500 MW of renewable generation, almost all of which is new wind-generating capacity, has contracted with either EirGrid or ESB Networks.

The Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, operates a processing approach for wind projects looking to connect to the electricity grid. This allows for a strategic view to be taken of network requirements and serves to put in place efficient connection solutions to cater for a large number of applications and to ensure optimum network development, minimising network costs and, where possible, avoidance of network bottlenecks. The EirGrid GRID25 strategy was devised to put in place the necessary infrastructure needed to underpin this market growth.

To date there have been three gates and in the latest Gate 3 phase some 3,900 MW of offers have issued to renewable generators. The take-up of Gate 3 offers cannot be quantified as yet. Somewhere around 500 MW of Gate 3 have accepted their offers to date and have already contracted with EirGrid or ESB Networks. It is expected that between what is already built in Gate 1 and Gate 2, and what has already contracted to build along with the remainder of Gate 3, is largely sufficient for the achievement of our 40% target, even if some Gate 3 developers ultimately decide not to accept their offer.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I welcome that the Government has set ambitious targets for electricity generation from wind sources. We are in a privileged position in terms of the huge potential for wind, wave and tidal energy off our west coast.

As the Minister will be aware, Scotland is one the leaders in terms of wind energy. It has set itself the target of not alone achieving total electricity generation from wind before the end of this decade but of becoming a net exporter of electricity generated from wind. Does the Minister believe the targets set by Scotland, which apparently will be achieved, are achievable here and, if so, what would we need to do to promote this?

The Minister will also be aware of the difficulties in terms of planning that have arisen in regard to the location of wind turbines to homes. Sinn Féin was happy to support the Wind Turbines Bill 2012 introduced in the Seanad by Senator Kelly. It is hoped that Bill will soon come before this House and will be passed here. Would it be better to have bigger but fewer wind farms? There are only seven wind farms in Scotland, all of which are located further than 2 km from any home. Would it be better for us to go the route of having bigger but fewer wind farms, all located an acceptable distance from homes?

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Deputy Ferris is correct that Scotland is a European, if not a world, leader in this area. Scotland, like Ireland, has propitious wind resources. Its energy policy in terms of oil and gas is retained at Westminster. The Scottish Government invests a great deal in the promotion of renewables, in particular wind. I would be hesitant to stick my neck out and say that the targets set by Scotland can be realised here for a whole variety of reasons, some of them technical. The Deputy will be aware that currently where the wind is best the grid is weakest. We need to address this and in that regard have announced the investment projects linking Cork to Kildare and the west grid from north Mayo to the midlands, which is important to that area.

We have been and are making good progress in this area. We are confident, based on expert advice, that we can meet our targets from onshore wind. As regards big versus small and so on, while there is a great deal of sense in what Deputy Ferris advocates organisations such as Meitheal na Gaoithe and other small developers who got involved in this area at an early stage would be aggrieved if the decision was made to exclude them. However, I agree with the Deputy that we cannot have wind farms at every crossroads in Ireland and that some projects of scale onshore is the desirable way to go. It may well be that the State companies, including Bord na Móna and Coillte, have a considerable role to play in facilitating that objective.

On the Deputy's point in regard to turbines, just as we do not want wind farms at every crossroads in Ireland, we do not want turbines unreasonably intruding on people's domestic residences. The response in the Seanad by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, to the Second Stage debate on the Wind Turbines Bill 2012 was that while the study is not yet complete she would favour the introduction of guidelines rather than primary legislation to deal with that issue.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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My point on larger wind farms is primarily from an infrastructural point of view, as I believe it makes sense because it would be far more economical. It would also be easier with regard to the planning process and having them an acceptable distance from local communities and houses. I would be very supportive of us moving to meet our targets from wind energy and other natural types of energy. We should also focus on what Scotland has managed to do. It has seven wind farms located 2 km from the nearest dwelling. It has a target of being energy sufficient through natural energy and being a net energy exporter by the end of the decade, which would be a huge achievement. I believe it would be achievable here also.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I was in Scotland on Friday on this business. I met the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth in the absence of the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism to discuss some of these issues in a side conference during the British-Irish Council meeting. Earlier last week I was in London to meet the Minister of State with responsibility for energy, Mr. Charles Hendry, to agree the goal that by the end of this year we will have concluded a memorandum of understanding between the two countries that will facilitate the export of energy from this island to the neighbouring island in what ought to be a win-win situation. The British Government needs access to renewable energy to help meet its targets, and perhaps for more substantial reasons. Meanwhile we have the capacity to perhaps generate as much energy again as the country uses. The total requirement of the island is approximately 7,000 MW and we have the capacity to generate as much again if we had a market for it. We must have a market for it otherwise there is no point. If our market cannot absorb it there is no point in generating excess electricity. We had a very good meeting in London at which we agreed that by July the officials will have highlighted the difficult issues that remain to be dealt with. The two Ministers will meet again in October if necessary and some form of intergovernmental framework or memorandum of understanding will be concluded by the end of the year. There could be many jobs in this if we can develop projects of scale here and the renewable capacity exported.

To answer Deputy Ferris's question on large and small wind farms, the State companies, including Bord na Mona, Coillte and the ESB, have been very innovative which ought to be acknowledged. Deputy Ferris is correct and there are thousands and not hundreds of acres of cutaway bog and the facility to have developments of scale on Coillte land and this is very important. However, I would not like to say to small would-be developers in the system that we will try to squeeze them out.