Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 278: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if there is communication with other interested parties, for example, the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, as anaerobic digestion-biomass originated electricity impacted on all three Departments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12183/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 279: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if a lottery is the most appropriate method of awarding contracts for anaerobic digestion-biomass originated electricity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12184/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 280: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if consideration will be given to the promotion of anaerobic digestion development using examples of Danish, Austrian, German and Swedish experience; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12185/05]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 278 to 280, inclusive, together.

An alternative energy requirement programme, AER, is operated by my Department to support the construction of new renewable energy based electricity generating stations in a variety of technologies. There have been six tender rounds in the AER programme to date. All projects selected in the biomass category prior to AER VI were projects harnessing landfill gas. In each round of competitive tendering under the AER programme all applicants were required to comply with published conditions precedent in the first instance. All applications compliant with those conditions were then ranked by prices bid, by category, commencing with the lowest price bid.

A quantitative limit applied in each category and it was necessary to make provision for ranking compliant projects with identical bid prices if the remaining unallocated support in any category was less than the combined capacity tendered by those projects. The selection method applied in each category was a lottery as a transparent means of selecting between equally qualified applications bidding identical prices. This methodology was notified to the market in the competition notes when formally launched.

In the most recent competition, AER VI, specific categories were added for the first time to support biomass powered anaerobic digestion and biomass fed combined heat and power after consultations with Sustainable Energy Ireland. The inclusion of these specific categories was introduced as a preliminary step to gauge market interest and performance in those categories.

In addition to the preliminary step taken in AER VI, my Department, in association with Sustainable Energy Ireland, set up a bioenergy strategy group, BSG, to consider future policy options and support mechanisms to stimulate an increased use of biomass generally in energy conversion and to make specific recommendations for action to increase the penetration of bioenergy in Ireland.

Membership of the BSG included representatives from the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, as well as State agencies in the agriculture and energy sectors. The deliberations by the group included examination of best international practice in the various forms of bioenergy. The group's report will feed into the policy options to more than double the penetration of renewable energy technologies in the electricity market by 2010.

It is important to maximise the contribution from all renewable energy technologies to electricity production on a basis that is technically secure and fair to all parties including, in particular, electricity consumers.