Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 479: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding renewable energy feed in tariff price; if he and or his Department have received correspondence from interested groups in relation to same; his plans to deal with his matter in the short to medium term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20338/10]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 480: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 324 and 325 of the 11 May 2010, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Renewable Energy Feed In Tariff price announcement was due in January 2010; when he expects to make a decision regarding same in view of the fact that the continued delay in announcing the REFIT price is putting the industry here in jeopardy with the potential loss of jobs; his views on whether miscanthus is an important growth industry; if the government will reach its target for biomass of 30% by 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20382/10]

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 481: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number of biomass plants in operation here; the amount of energy they supply; if he is satisfied that sufficient support is available to encourage such operations in view of the situation in Germany and in other countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20463/10]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 479 to 481, 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.

I have received representations on behalf of stakeholders in relation to the REFIT price for biomass. 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 provisional Energy Balance for 2009 indicates that biomass provided 165 ktoe to final energy consumption in 2009. This includes the panel board mills, sawmills, and end users in the domestic and commercial sectors.

Under the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) ReHeat Deployment Programme, 164 biomass boilers have been supported, with a total installed capacity of 72 MW, or an average size of about 400 kW per boiler. Based on an average annual operation of 3500 hours these boilers provide about 22 ktoe of final energy.

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, Fisheries and Food to ensure that its 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 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.