Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 224: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the estimate he has made of the change in demand for electricity by 2025; the provisions he has put in place to deal with those changes; the costs that are likely to be incurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22198/10]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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EirGrid is the national transmission system operator, and as such, is responsible for developing and upgrading the transmission system in order to meet ongoing and future electricity needs. EirGrid publishes figures on growth of demand each month. These are available on the EirGrid website at www.eirgrid.com. Each year EirGrid's Generation Adequacy Report estimates the need for new power generation capacity and transmission capacity looking ahead seven years. These figures provide the basis for investments in the competitive generation sector and by the network operators. The Generation Adequacy Report is also available on EirGrid's website.

EirGrid has estimated that demand for electricity will grow by up to 60 per cent by 2025. Grid25 is EirGrid's strategy for developing Ireland's electricity transmission network over the next fifteen years. The plan envisages the doubling of Ireland's grid capacity over the period to 2025 and will involve investment of €4 billion in this critical national infrastructure. Costs related to new generation plant are borne by investors. Network infrastructure is a regulated investment.

EirGrid's plans are capable of adaptation in light of changes within the period to 2025, and electricity infrastructure will be driven to a large extent by major strategic issues such as the integration of renewable electricity in line with Ireland's binding EU targets, the need to ensure that industries all over Ireland have power to locate and expand, and the critical imperative of encouraging competition in the electricity sector.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 225: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the most recent estimate of the proportion of electricity generated from renewable sources; his estimate of the proportion of electricity that will be generated from renewable sources by 2025; the way he intends to achieve those estimates and the costs likely to be incurred in so doing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22199/10]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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It is estimated that in Quarter 1 2010 there was 1651 MW of installed renewable generation on the Irish electricity system. Ireland is on schedule to meet the 15% target for electricity from renewable sources (RES-E) for this year (surpassing an EU target of 13.1% by 2010 addressed to Ireland under Directive 2001/77/EC.) Indeed, based on reasonable load growth figures and reasonable capacity factors Ireland has already met, or is close to meeting, our national target. This will be confirmed later in the year. In the meantime, there is sufficient additional capacity scheduled to be installed throughout this year to ensure the target is achieved.

Ireland's target for electricity from renewable sources is a 2020 rather than a 2025 target. Under the new Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC, Ireland must achieve 16% of all energy from renewable sources across the heat, transport and electricity sectors by 2020. Broadly speaking, it is intended that this will be achieved through 12% heat from renewable sources, 10% transport energy from renewable sources and 40% RES-E. In Budget 2009, the Government set a 40% RES-E target and it is estimated that between 4630MW and 5800MW of renewable generation will be required, depending on economic growth assumptions and demand projections, to ensure 40% of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2020.

Under the grid connection offer process 'Gate 3', 3900MW of offers are currently in the process of being issued to renewable generators. This amount of renewable generation is sufficient for the achievement of Ireland's RES-E target and with falling demand may even mean that the RES-E target is exceeded. The Gate process is commensurate with the achievement of our 2020 RES-E target. On the infrastructure side, EirGrid's 'Grid 25' strategy provides the framework to build a more cost effective and efficient system to cater for the shift towards the integration of increasing amounts of renewable generation over time and will necessitate €4 billion investment in the grid.