Dáil debates

Thursday, 8 December 2022

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Renewable Energy Generation

11:30 am

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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146. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his proposals to increase the adoption of rooftop solar energy generation on farms. [61185/22]

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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We all know that with climate change and the energy crisis, we have to deliver rooftop solar energy. It is the low-hanging fruit. We have many buildings on farms and farmers are looking for opportunities. It is just a matter of meeting them halfway. I assume I will be delighted with the Minister’s answer.

11:40 am

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be absolutely delighted because this is a big priority for the Government. He will warmly welcome how the Government is delivering on this and many other issues. Solar has considerable potential. We want to back farm families in developing it, availing of it and benefiting from it.

To encourage on-farm renewable technology uptake and usage, grant aid is provided through grants made available by my Department under the targeted agricultural modernisation schemes, TAMS. Grants are currently available for solar photovoltaic, PV, technology and solar PV rechargeable batteries, and also solar panels, or solar thermal, for water heating under the pig and poultry capital investment scheme. An on-farm solar PV survey must be completed and submitted to avail of a grant.

I was delighted recently to announce, as part of the budget, that the electricity consumption of a dwelling house can now be included, with immediate effect, on the solar survey as part of the holding for sizing the solar PV installation. The dwelling house must be occupied by the herd owner or family member and situated on the holding. The scheme is now open for applications.

The maximum panel size eligible for grant aid under the pig and poultry scheme is 62 kW, and it is 11 kW under other eligible TAMS II schemes. To encourage further uptake, I am proposing further changes to the scheme. I will be increasing the number of kilowatts for solar applications under TAMS III to 30 kW from 11 kW. This is a very significant increase that will bring in more energy-intensive farms and cover their electricity usage through on-farm generation.

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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We all welcome the fact that the work that needs to be done is absolutely necessary. I would imagine that the Minister has been at more IFA meetings than I have, but at several of them I have seen a large number of people who are ready for change. Some of the complaints, particularly those over recent years, relate to the fact that people did not believe the solar panel grant scheme was where it should have been and that it was not fit for purpose. I am hopeful about the changes the Minister is proposing. I am aware that there have been difficulties in that we have not got anaerobic digestion to the point where we need it. We need to get all the pieces together.

Could the Minister give me a general notion of the timeline for the changes? Could he give us information on the number of farmers availing of the grants? Can anything be done to ensure we get the best bang for our buck for both the farmers and wider society?

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Subject to getting approval from the EU Commission, the new TAMS will be kicking off next January. A significant thing I am doing to drive uptake among farm families is providing a separate €90,000 allocation under TAMS specifically for solar. It is separate from the €90,000 allocation for other on-farm investments. There has been a bit of a drag regarding the uptake of solar under the last TAMS because the money all came out of the one investment and people had to choose between solar and something else. I do not want people not doing solar because they choose something else; I want everyone to do it. With 60% in grant aid to cover solar panels, plus batteries, which are really important, and given that the funding is entirely separate from that associated with other TAMS investments, every farm family needs to consider solar. It makes financial sense. We want to drive it on. The two Ministers of State, Senator Hackett and Deputy Heydon, and I want to see farmers availing of this opportunity. They will save money and make themselves more profitable through it. It will also make a genuine difference in respect of emissions reductions. I foresee a big step change.

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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In fairness, we would all like to see a drive regarding the uptake. I welcome the separate allocation for batteries and solar panels, because we want people to opt for every means of electricity generation given the circumstances we find ourselves in. Could the Minister indicate the sorts of numbers we are looking at? Uptake is vital because we really need to ensure we are operating at scale and we address any faults in the grant scheme as the changes are being made.

Could the Minister outline the general position on microgeneration and anaerobic digestion? I realise these are partly beyond his direct remit.

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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It is hard to know the numbers but everybody should be considering solar. I want everybody to do so.

With regard to microgeneration, I am engaging with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on his plans to develop a feed-in tariff, separate from TAMS, that farmers will be able to use to generate more solar energy – for example, by having solar panels in fields. This would allow them to feed into the grid, be paid and make money on a purely commercial basis.

On anaerobic digestion, we have a lot of work to do to realise our potential. We have seen great progress. Ireland is now one of the leading countries in Europe in wind energy generation. There has been a major focus on that over the past decade. There is also a considerable focus now on solar. We will also focus significantly on anaerobic digestion. Our plan is that, by 2030, 10% of our total national gas consumed in houses and businesses will come from farms through anaerobic digestion. This will require a big step change and significant investment. It will also require a renewable heat obligation tariff to drive the investment.

Questions Nos. 147 and 148 taken with Written Answers.