Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 541: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the average cost of a wind farm here; if so, the average cost of a wind farm here; if the figure for Ireland is higher than the European Union average which according to the European Wind Energy Association is on average €1.2 million per megawatt capacity; if so, the action he will take in order to rectify this cost difference; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22563/09]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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A report prepared by Sustainable Energy Ireland for the International Energy Agency (IEA) on wind turbine costs in Ireland in 2008 estimated typical costs for developing a wind farm in Ireland in 2008 in the range of m€1.7/MW to m€2/MW according to the specific characteristics of the project and other relevant factors, including grid connection charges, land prices and exchange rates.

The IEA has concluded there is insufficient clarity in the methodology for assessing the comparative costs of wind projects in different countries. The IEA has therefore proposed a new research task, IEA Wind Task 26, which, among other purposes, will provide a common methodology for comparing the cost of developing wind energy among participating countries as well as development of a methodology that could be used by external observers to estimate wind generation costs. This will facilitate more accurate comparisons of costs in different countries based on harmonised cost calculation methods.

Costs vary from country to country for a number of reasons. Primary factors include the typical scale of wind farm developments within a country, the structure of the wind energy development sector in a country i.e. whether dominated by small-scale project developers or large developers with multiple projects with balance sheet finance, geographic factors such as typical topography and terrain, soil types and average distances from infrastructure such as ports, roads and electricity networks.

In Ireland the electricity market is fully liberalised and wind farms projects are typically developed by both large and small-scale independent developers. Actual costs at any site depend on the purchasing power of the individual project developer, which can affect turbine prices, price variability for wind turbines from year to year, the cost of land, the local topography and terrain and distance from the site to ports, roads and the electricity network.