Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 18: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to remove limits on the fixed price tariff for wind farms, biomass and anaerobic digester power plants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23119/07]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Section 39 of the Electricity Regulations Act 1999 permits the offering of financial guarantees to developers of new renewable energy powered electricity generating projects, to be selected in a competitive process. On foot of this process, the Renewable Energy Feed In Tariff (REFIT) programme is a fixed price support model designed to bring greater certainty to project developers. It includes a quantitative limit which delivers the competitive element required by the legislation. However, the REFIT rules also permit the extension of the total capacity supported from time to time. This discretion will be exercised to ensure that the support programme offers assistance to all qualifying projects submitted into REFIT which have already secured a connection offer and projects which receive a connection offer in the current Gate 2 connection offer programme.

This level of capacity and market interest are capable of assisting delivery of the 2010 renewable energy target of 15% contribution to electricity. I consider that there is an imperative to significantly increase both the scale and pace of development to ensure our 2020 target of 33% of renewable sourced electricity is achieved and indeed surpassed.

In order to maximise the scale of development from renewable energy resources and to deliver the 2020 target, I have already made clear my intention to extend REFIT to cover additional renewable technologies. These include the offshore energy resource both wind and ocean, additional biomass categories including cofiring at the peat stations and support for additional or hybrid technologies as they emerge from research and development programmes.

The REFIT programme is being kept under constant review and will be adapted as needed to ensure that it supports the accelerated development of indigenous renewable energy resources, through positive signals to the market. Renewable energy together with energy efficiency is key to lower carbon intensity in electricity generation, enhanced security of supply, fuel diversity and sustainability and overall competitiveness.