Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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REFIT stands for 'Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff' and is the primary means through which electricity from renewable sources is supported in Ireland. The first REFIT scheme ('REFIT 1') was announced in 2006 and state aid approval was obtained in September 2007. The REFIT 2 scheme provides support for onshore wind, small hydro and landfill gas generation projects and was opened in March 2012. The REFIT 3 scheme supports biomass technologies and opened in February 2012.

The REFIT schemes are supported through the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy which is a levy on all electricity customers. The PSO levy has been in place since 2001 and is the overall support mechanism for a number of different technology types, including peat generation, certain conventional generation constructed for security of supply purposes, and the development of renewable electricity.

Annually, my Department drafts a statutory instrument to provide the legislative basis for the REFIT payments and the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) determines the PSO levy. Only projects which are included on the PSO statutory instrument and in the CER's PSO levy projections are eligible to receive REFIT payments.

There was 1,874 MW of REFIT renewable generation capacity included in PSO decision CER/14/361 for 2014/2015 PSO levy period which represents the total megawatts which have become eligible for REFIT payments in the period since 2000.