Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his strategy for wind power; the extent to which he wishes to see it developed onshore; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4743/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Under Directive 2009/28/EC, Ireland was assigned a legally binding target of 16% by 2020 for the percentage of all energy consumption that must be met from renewable sources. Ireland intends to meet the overall target through 40% renewable electricity, 10% renewable transport, which is a minimum binding target, and 12% renewable heating, which together amount to 16% overall.

In terms of the 40% renewable electricity to be achieved by 2020, the ability to meet this is largely determined by the grid connection offers to renewable generators. The grid connection process is vested in the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). CER published a Gate 3 direction in December 2008, which was specifically designed with the intention of providing for sufficient renewable energy grid connection offers to achieve 40% renewable electricity by 2020. In addition, the CER published a decision on the connection of small, low carbon renewable generators outside the Gate process (CER 09/99). This mechanism specifically provides for the ability of small anaerobic digesters, biomass CHP plants, wave and tidal devices and other non-wind renewable low carbon generators to connect to the grid outside of the Gate process by 2020.

The Gate 3 grid connection direction includes a list of specific renewable generating projects to receive grid connections. The vast bulk of these are onshore wind developments. Hence, onshore wind will make up the bulk of the delivery of the 40% renewable electricity target. The Government decided in 2012 that an offshore wind feed-in-tariff (REFIT) would not be offered at this time. REFIT is available as a support from onshore wind projects. Accordingly, in meeting our legal obligation to deliver the 2020 renewables target, the policy focus and incentive relates to onshore wind. The REFIT support for onshore wind is significantly less than what would be required for offshore wind. It is borne by electricity consumers through the Public Service Obligation.

In the First Progress Report on the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP), available on my Department’s website, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) modelling indicated that 3,521 MW of wind would be needed on the electricity grid by 2020 in order to achieve our 40% renewable electricity target. This is approximately a doubling on current levels of wind generation. In addition, the NREAP progress report modelling also forecasts other technologies contributing to our 40% target - 274 MW of biomass technologies by 2020 as well as 75 MW of wave and tidal technology. It is evident, however, that wind generated electricity is expected to play a pivotal role and this will be overwhelmingly onshore wind.

As the Deputy will be aware, UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, and I signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in energy last week. This MoU is a signal of intent. It gives us an opportunity to fully consider how Irish renewable energy resources, onshore and offshore, might be developed to the mutual benefit of Ireland and the UK. The MoU commits us to a programme of work and a possible formal Inter-Governmental agreement with the UK if it is considered mutually beneficial to enter such an agreement.