Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 328: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will confirm that he is satisfied that Ireland will meet its renewable energy targets set for 2020; and the targets for each year up to 2020. [12671/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Under the Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC Ireland has been set a legally binding target for renewable energy as a proportion of all energy consumption that must be achieved by 2020. The National Renewable Energy Action Plan sets out that this overall 16% target will be achieved through 40% consumption of renewables in the electricity sector, 10% in the transport sector and 12% in the heat sector. The targets are challenging and the plan sets out the actions needed and the barriers to be overcome in order to achieve the targets by 2020.

The progressive delivery of increased renewable energy is being supported by a variety of policy initiatives. In the transport sector, the biofuels obligation introduced in 2010 under the Energy (Biofuel Obligation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010, requires transport fuel suppliers to provide a specified amount of their sales in the form of biofuels. The obligation currently stands at 4% by volume which is equivalent to 3% in energy terms. The biofuel obligation will incrementally increase on a sustainable basis over the horizon to 2020 to meet the renewable transport target of 10% in 2020. In April 2011, I launched the Electric Vehicle Grant scheme to encourage early adoption of the technology by offering support of up to €5,000 for the purchase of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV).

Due to the cost of transporting heat, heat is generally consumed at the point of generation to maximise efficiency. The recently announced biomass feed-in-tariff for electricity exported to the grid provides for up to 310 MW of new biomass generation to be constructed. This will support renewable heating by stimulating the production of biomass and anaerobic digestion combined heat and power. Ireland's renewable heat target is particularly challenging given settlement patterns and housing density.

Renewable electricity is the largest contributor to Ireland's renewable energy consumption (estimated at 18% at the end of 2011) and will contribute most to the national 2020 target. The largest contribution in the electricity sector is expected to be made through generation from wind technologies, followed by biomass technologies. For the support of commercial renewable generation, my Department administers a renewable energy support mechanism known as the Renewable Energy Feed In Tariff (REFIT). EirGrid's data, available on their website www.eirgrid.com, shows that at the end of 2011, there were 1630 MW of wind generation connected to the grid, representing the majority of the 1900 MW of renewable generation on the system.

The latest modelling, undertaken by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), ('Energy Forecasts for Ireland to 2020 [2011]), projects that capacity of around 4000 MW of renewable generation will be required on the electricity system to deliver the 40% renewable electricity target by 2020. I am determined that the challenging 2020 target will be achieved and the policy measures set out above are testimony to my determination in this regard.