Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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597. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the penalties Ireland will face if we do not meet our target of 10% of transport energy coming from renewable sources by 2020, under the European Union renewable energy supply directive. [42320/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive set Member States individual targets for renewable energy in order to attain an overall renewable energy share of 20% by 2020 across the entire European Union. In this regard, Ireland was assigned a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our overall energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020. In addition, Member States must ensure that at least 10% of the energy used in the transport sector is from renewable sources by 2020. The 10% transport target contributes to the overall 16% target, with the additional required contributions coming from renewable electricity (40%) and renewable heat (12%).

While the cost of any shortfall in Ireland's target of 16% has yet to be established, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has estimated that the cost to Ireland may be in the range of €100 million to €150 million for each percentage point Ireland falls short of the overall 16% renewable energy target. In arriving at these figures, SEAI used the Irish onshore wind tariff support cost (lower bound) and the UK offshore wind tariff support cost (upper bound) as the cost per megawatt hour (MWh) of purchasing renewable energy credits to meet 2020 targets. Further work commissioned by SEAI suggests the cost to Ireland may be in the range of €70 million to €140 million per percentage point shortfall (equivalent to €50 to €100 per MWh). These estimates are based on the projected marginal cost of the renewable energy being brought to market by the selling Member State, with the cost per MWh based solely on the premium component of the tariff support and the type of technology used, ranging, as with SEAI estimates, from onshore wind (lower bound) to offshore wind (upper bound).