Dáil debates
Thursday, 25 January 2024
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Energy Production
11:40 am
Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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98. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide an update on his Department’s plans to build on strong wind energy generation in Ireland in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3162/24]
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate Deputy Murphy on his good luck on getting three questions in a row. I calculate the probability of that is one in 1,300. Paul is extremely lucky, unlike me, whose questions are relegated to the bottom of the paper. However, I am very fortunate that Deputy Alan Farrell has allowed me to ask this question.
Will the Minister outline his views on the expansion of wind energy and the progress made to date? What are the potential obstacles? The climate council does not seem to have listed having energy security as one of the obstacles to such progress, despite what Deputy Murphy just said.
Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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With approximately 4.8 GW of onshore wind, Ireland is a world leader in levels of installed wind energy capacity per capita as well as in the integration of variable renewable electricity onto the grid.
According to provisional figures published by SEAI for the electricity generation mix for 2023, renewable generation, including wind, increased by over 9% compared with 2022 figures. Rapidly growing solar generation capacity in Ireland complements wind generation, with more than 1 GW of solar now installed, making an important contribution to the now over 6 GW of renewable energy installed across the country. Under the Climate Action Plan 2023, Ireland has set a target of 80% of electricity demand from renewable sources by 2030, with targets of 9 GW of onshore wind, 8 GW of solar and at least 5 GW of offshore wind.
The accelerating renewable electricity task force has been established to identify, co-ordinate, and prioritise the required policies to achieve the onshore renewable electricity targets. The offshore wind delivery task force has been established to drive delivery and capture the wider and longer-term economic and business opportunities associated with the development of offshore renewables in Ireland.
In December last year, Ireland signed up to a European Wind Charter to develop and improve the conditions necessary for the delivery of wind energy targets. Ireland also signed a voluntary so-called wind pledge, committing to the delivery of wind energy targets for the period 2024 to 2026, as well as pledging indicative targets for 2030 and post 2030.
I look forward hearing the Deputy's views. As I mentioned, last year we saw not just a 9% increase in renewables capacity but also a very significant reduction in emissions, which is one of the key metrics we have to be guided by. That is before we deliver the additional wind energy, particularly onshore, and solar, which are waiting to come through the planning system but which will come, I believe, and will allow us to meet our targets.
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. Representatives of the climate council appeared before the committee recently. I have to say there was a note of exasperation about some of the obstacles to expanding our renewables. They included guidelines for onshore wind which seemed to be inordinately held up, spatial planning guidelines, planning delays, the regulatory treatment of battery storage and some others relating to hybrid connections and private wires. We seem to have an administrative problem in getting through some of these enabling provisions. It creates a concern that the very ambitious and important targets the Minister just outlined may not be met.
Can we break some of these logjams which seem to persist?
11:50 am
Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We have to break those logjams and the job of the political system, which the Deputy would be aware of, particularly at ministerial level in our Department, is to break the logjam and to ensure our administrative system is able to deliver on the scale of ambition we have. The Deputy cited three things, one of which was onshore wind guidelines. We have to deliver those this year. It has been so many years between two Departments, but that has to be resolved and will be resolved this year. We have to get better spatial planning. We are seeing many counties effectively opting out of the renewables revolution. I do not know how they can do that, because if they do that, they will be opting out of other investment into their counties because the industries and jobs will follow the clean energy. We clearly have to deliver on the spatial planning. Third, the Deputy mentioned the example of the private wires. I believe there is huge potential for us to become more efficient. One of the key bottlenecks is in the grid development and building out the grid, and one of the advantages with private wires is that it helps us deliver renewables to a variety of different solutions and not just in the traditional model. It is sometimes frustrating and it can take longer than one would want but we cannot relent. As politicians, we must drive the administrative system to deliver those system changes. We have European law to back us up, the technology is there and is improving all the time but we do need to become quicker in this country at removing some of the blockages which would risk our world-leading position at the moment if we do not act fast.
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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To listen to the climate council, it points to other countries which have taken a more robust approach. I know we value the consultative process and the protections we have enshrined in planning law, albeit we are now trying to rationalise some of the excessive delays that occur in it. Has the Minister looked to other legal reforms which would make it easier to reach these decisions quickly? I know the delays in the planning board are inordinate and there is a big effort to bring in new expertise there, but it seems to me it needs to soar up the political agenda as a cross-government initiative whereby every Minister has a heightened obligation to remove barriers in this sphere.
Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The reform, the upgrading and the modernisation of our planning laws is probably the number one piece of Government legislation. It is, because it affects every aspect of our society. I will make a couple points on that. First, it is very complicated because the new Bill is 700 pages. The Deputy will be on the committee the Bill goes to, or rather he will not as it will go to Steven Matthews's committee rather than Brian Leddin's. I believe there are some 1,000 amendments. That will involve a great deal of work from the committee.
The first principle is that we do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The independent Bord Pleanála-based planning system is the right approach. These are not easy decisions and you have to made sure you adhere to the Aarhus Convention, have open public consultation, engagement, recourse to legal challenge, and so on. It is not like it will be a wholesale change of everything. It is refining and fine-tuning, in the interests of everyone, so that it is less expensive with fewer lengthy delays, and it is clearer legally and administratively to operate. We need to do that and to have that legislation introduced in the coming months.
It is starting to work. We are starting see planning decisions, especially for our semi-State companies. For example, Oweninny wind farm in Mayo, which is near the first wind farm we had, in Bellacorick, is now in operation. I expect Bord na Móna, Coillte and others to be able to continue on that path. We are starting to see planning applications coming through but we need that legal reform. It is not a question of throwing the baby out with the bathwater but of making it quicker and more effective.