Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1653. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the details of any studies his Department has undertaken to investigate the benefits of converting Moneypoint power station to biomass; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34601/14]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1654. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the details of any studies his Department has undertaken to investigate the benefits of converting Moneypoint power station to co-fire on biomass; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34602/14]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1656. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he has examined the possibility of adjusting the proportion of renewable energy that is derived from wind energy when taking into consideration the evolvement of the technological and commercial environment in recent years and the need to be cost as well as carbon conscious; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34604/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1653, 1654 and 1656 together.

The overarching objective of the Government's energy policy is to ensure secure and sustainable supplies of competitively priced energy to all consumers. Ireland is currently heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels to meet our energy needs. While it is acknowledged that fossil fuels will remain part of the energy mix for some time to come, progress is being made towards increasing the share of renewable energy in our generation portfolio. The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020, to be achieved through 40% renewables in electricity, 12% in heat and 10% in transport.

In order to support the development of renewable electricity generation, policy interventions are designed to incentivise the market to deliver the necessary renewable generation capacity. To date wind energy has been the most cost effective renewable technology in the Irish electricity market, contributing most towards the achievement of the 2020 target. Provisional figures for 2013 indicate that 16.4% of electricity demand was met by wind generation. Nevertheless, diversification of the renewable generation portfolio in the longer term will be important for creating a sustainable, carbon free, electricity system.

Currently the REFIT schemes are the primary means through which electricity from renewable sources is supported in Ireland. These schemes support electricity generated from a range of renewable sources including hydro, biomass combustion, biomass combined heat and power, landfill gas and onshore wind and are paid for by electricity customers through the Public Service Obligation. In this regard, the forthcoming Draft Bioenergy Plan recommends the continuation of the REFIT supports for electricity generated from biomass.

The choice of technology is, however, ultimately a commercial decision for individual project developers and the fuel used in the power plant at Moneypoint is a matter for the operator and I have no role or function in this regard. No studies have been undertaken by my Department on the potential or otherwise of converting the plant to use biomass.

However, I am currently in the process of developing a new Energy Policy White Paper which will set out Ireland’s energy policy for the next number of years. To facilitate the development of the new White Paper, a Green Paper was published in May 2014 commencing a public consultation period that concluded on 31 July and one of the questions raised in the Green Paper related to the future of Moneypoint. Some 1,200 submissions were received on the Green Paper as part of that process and my Department is currently reviewing the submissions received.

Furthermore, analysis of options for increased use of renewable energy as we approach 2020 and beyond is ongoing, with a view to ensuring that our ambition is both sustainable, and economically and technically feasible. For example, analysis is being undertaken by my Department, the SEAI, EirGrid and the CER to further assess the costs and benefits associated with achieving 40% renewable electricity generation in 2020, compared to a scenario where renewable electricity remains at 2013 levels.

There is also potential to increase the diversity of our renewable electricity generation portfolio in the period beyond 2020. To that end, the Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP), published earlier this year, identifies the sustainable economic opportunity for Ireland in the period to 2030 of realising the potential of our indigenous offshore wind, wave and tidal energy resources. The Strategic Environmental Assessment carried out for the OREDP found that at least 4,500 MW of offshore wind and 1,500 MW of wave and tidal generation could be sustainably developed in Irish waters.