Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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51. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the total electricity generation capacity that has been energised since February 2020, broken down by fuel source and year; what percentage of Ireland’s electricity was imported in each of the years since 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21897/24]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister of State the total electricity generating capacity that has been energised since February 2022, broken down by fuel source and year; what percentage of Ireland's electricity was imported in each of the years since 2020; and if we will make a statement on the matter.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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The climate action plan sets challenging targets for installed generation capacity in 2030. This includes 9 GW of onshore wind, 8 GW of solar and at least 2 GW of additional gas-fired generation capacity. Ireland now has over 6 GW of renewable electricity generation capacity, with 46% of electricity generated in Ireland in 2023 being renewable.

I am informed by ESB Networks that the following volume of generation has been grid-connected since 2020 by fuel source and year. I will share a written copy of the table with Deputies and will now outline the following summary. Some 784 MW of onshore wind has been grid-connected since 2020; 654 MW of grid solar has been connected since 2020 and, for clarity, this excludes rooftop solar, which is growing at pace; and 718 MW of batteries have also been grid-connected in this time period. For gas-fired generation capacity, 243 MW has been grid-connected so far, with a further 433 MW due to be connected in the coming weeks. In total, this means over 2 GW of new generation capacity has been grid-connected since 2020, with a further substantial amount of generation capacity due to come online this year.

Ireland's net import of electricity accounted for 9.5% of electricity supply in 2023, which compares with 0.7% of electricity supply in 2022 and 4.8% in 2021. Ireland was a net exporter of electricity in 2020.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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Although it was not what prompted the question, the Minister of State will have heard from the Climate Change Advisory Council yesterday in regard to the electricity sector and the reports on the challenge of meeting our targets. We had a roundtable last week involving members of the Oireachtas climate committee and some of those in the offshore wind sector. Both of those examples paint a similar picture of ambition but a failure to implement at pace and scale the type of change that is required. We talk about a lost decade in terms of renewables between 2010 and 2020. In effect, we had a lost year last year and we cannot afford lost days, never mind lost years, in the roll-out of renewables. One of the issues raised by the CCAC was the need to progress the transposition of the revised renewable energy directive. When will the Government do that?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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The Government acknowledges the Climate Change Advisory Council report and agrees that we must move at greater speed and scale to achieve our electricity targets. Ireland has achieved an unprecedented decrease in energy-related emissions. We had a 7% annual reduction last year and a 21% decrease in electricity-related emissions. This is despite a large increase in our population and a large increase in energy use. It is because of a great increase in wind and solar renewable electricity and also increased overseas interconnection.

Under our climate action plan update, Ireland is targeting to reach 80% of electricity demand from renewable sources by 2030. We have emissions reductions driven down through onshore wind, onshore solar and 5 GW of offshore wind. That is very ambitious. To reach 80% of our electricity demand coming from renewable sources by 2030 and to have a clear plan to reach that is certainly ambitious. Acceleration of the deployment of renewable energy this decade, especially onshore wind and solar, is now fundamental to meeting our sectoral climate targets. The main issues we have faced are planning barriers and delays relating to planning difficulties. That is why the Government is bringing in its new Planning and Development Bill, which will be enacted this summer.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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This echoes previous reports from the CCAC which point towards progress in terms of legislation, regulation and planning but, repeatedly, there is an implementation deficit. Last year certainly saw an implementation deficit. We need to be energising 1.6 GW a year of new renewables, new grid scale and onshore renewables but, instead, it was just 0.6 GW last year.

What is the Government going to do to ensure those onshore renewables are delivered? There are obviously issues with the planning system. Time is of the absolute essence. The question I asked was about the renewable energy directive. Other countries have used that as a mechanism. The European Union has essentially given the green light on it to deliver renewables at scale. Is the Minister of State going to take that opportunity or what else is he going to do?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I think the first part of the question was about delivery. It was about how much the Government has installed of new capacity. We have seen more than 2 GW of capacity installed over the course of the past four years. The fact there is now 1 GW of solar on the grid is incredible. I expect another 1.5 GW will be added this year and another 1.5 GW next year. Looking towards an 8 GW target for 2030 is absolutely achievable.

What I see in all of these areas, despite the challenges, is delivery. I see connection of new wind onshore. I am seeing connection of solar for the first time ever. I see renewable energy from offshore wind coming in huge volumes soon, and I see that following on from the EU's prescriptions about how we should speed up our planning process and so on, the DMAP has now been designated for the south of the country off the coast of Waterford and Wexford. That has been clearly announced to the market. I see a lot of interest from wind farm companies investing in Ireland. Overall, I see a large volume of not just electricity being put onto the grid but customers from other European countries coming to Ireland and saying they want to buy our excess renewable energy in the future.