Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 230: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when an announcement will be made on a renewable energy feed in tariff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19391/10]

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 232: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when the announcement of Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff Price will be announced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19568/10]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 233: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason he has reneged on the promises made to those in the Miscanthus industry that an announcement on the Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff Price as applied to peat power stations would be made by the end of January 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19636/10]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 234: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if it is his stated goal to support indigenous biomass to meet the energy targets of co-firing 30 biomass in the peat stations by 2015; the strategy he has to achieve this target through indigenous biomass; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19637/10]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 235: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the final clarification on when an announcement will be made regarding the REFIT price for Miscanthus and other biomass burned in peat power stations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19638/10]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 230 and 232 to 235, inclusive, together.

The Government has set the targets for the contribution from renewable energy sources to electricity at 40% by 2020. The 40% electricity target is consistent with the new EU target addressed to Ireland in the Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC, which requires Ireland to increase the contribution from renewable sources to 16% of all energy consumed (encompassing electricity, transport and heating) by 2020.

Reflecting the need to support the development of biomass, I announced in February 2008 a Renewable Energy Feed In Tariff (REFIT) for biomass of 12 cent per kilowatt hour.

Under the auspices of the Renewable Energy Development Group, which is chaired by my Department, the Bioenergy Working Group is currently finalising a Bioenergy Road Map to 2020 which will underpin the contribution of bioenergy, including biomass to Ireland's Renewable Energy target for 2020. The Working Group is reviewing the current REFIT for the various categories of biomass Combined Heat and Power plants, having regard to the particular challenges for the sector and I expect that work to be finalised within the next few weeks.

The Government's Energy Policy Framework 2007 sets out a target for co-firing in peat stations of 30% by 2015. Both ESB and Bord na Móna have been conducting a programme of research and development, including large scale co-firing trials with a variety of materials. The trials have also encompassed laboratory tests on the chemical and physical properties of various materials.

Decisions by ESB and Bord na Móna on what material to co-fire and the timing of the move to introduce large scale co-firing will be taken in light of the ongoing trials.

Both companies have been in discussions with a number of market players around sourcing potential supplies for the co-firing material. The companies themselves will be responsible for making the commercial decisions to award any such contracts.

The objective is to utilise domestically produced biomass as much as possible, and my Department is working closely with the Department of Agriculture to ensure that their support schemes for energy crops and forestry are in alignment with the scale of demand that may ultimately arise as a result of the co-firing process.

The Miscanthus Pilot Demonstration Programme is a newly launched programme funded under the Renewable Energy Research Development and Demonstration Programme, which provides assistance for the deployment of renewable heating systems fuelled by miscanthus in commercial, industrial, services and public sectors and also community organisations and Energy Supply Companies (ESCOs), in Ireland.

The programme, which was launched on 30th April 2010, is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

The use of miscanthus as a fuel to date is very limited in Ireland due to a number of issues, including limited experience with its use as a boiler fuel. The Miscanthus Pilot Demonstration Programme is intended to support the establishment of a number of exemplar boiler sites, between five and 15 depending on the mix of size ranges and costs submitted. These exemplar sites will serve to provide important information on the supply chain logistics and suitability of miscanthus as a boiler fuel in an Irish context, as well as providing a solid basis for creating market confidence.