Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 49: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when the new REFIT scheme, known as REFIT 2, is expected to receive clearance from the European Commission for State aid; the reason for the delay in receiving clearance to date; if he is actively pursuing this issue with the Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39358/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I am advised that the second State Aid decision from the European Commission on REFIT 2 for onshore wind, hydro and landfill gas should be forthcoming shortly and once obtained, I will seek Government approval to proceed to open the scheme.

New renewable electricity generation is supported in every Member State and is necessary to underpin delivery of the European Union's ambitious 2020 renewable energy and climate change targets. It also displaces imported fossil fuels in our electricity generation and improves our overall security of supply.

The Renewable Energy Feed-in-Tariff (REFIT) scheme was announced in 2006 for certain categories of renewable energy, including wind and hydro power. It received state aid clearance in 2007 and projects under the original scheme continue to build out. There is just over 1,200 MW of REFIT supported generation included in the 2011/2012 PSO decision.

The REFIT scheme was successful with Ireland achieving and surpassing its 2010 Renewable Electricity target as is acknowledged by the EU Commission. Under the Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC, Ireland has been set a new legally binding target of 16% of all energy consumed in the country to be from renewable sources by 2020 across the transport, heating and electricity sectors.

This is a more than a threefold increase on where we are today and will be challenging to deliver. As set out in the National Renewable Energy Action Plan, a large proportion of the mandatory target will be delivered through the electricity sector and REFIT will play a key role in ensuring sufficient new renewable generation is built out.

The real challenge is to ensure that we are able to build out the necessary supporting grid infrastructure to enable the Gate 3 projects to develop. Grid reinforcement plays a key role in ensuring regions have a secure and reliable electricity supply. It is also necessary to strengthen the grid to be able to accept new renewable generation which is typically located in more remote areas that have weak grid systems. Our ability to get this infrastructure built is critical to achieving Ireland's renewable energy ambitions.