Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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1507. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the total amount of funding provided for renewable energy projects since 2011, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1554/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Renewable Energy Feed-in-Tariff (REFIT) schemes are the principal means of supporting renewable electricity generators for energy exported to the grid and are funded through the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy. The REFIT schemes assure a minimum price for each unit of electricity exported to the grid over a 15 year period and cover a range of different renewable energy technologies, including hydro, biomass combustion, biomass combined heat and power, landfill gas and onshore wind.

Prior to the introduction of REFIT, a tender scheme, called the Alternative Energy Requirement (AER) was used to support renewable energy in Ireland. The AER scheme also receives its funding via the PSO to support renewable energy projects, but to a lesser extent. There are currently only four renewable energy projects receiving support via the AER scheme.

The REFIT and AER schemes have proved successful at encouraging the uptake in the use of renewable energy. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has reported that renewable electricity generation, consisting of wind, hydro, landfill gas, biomass and biogas, increased to 27.3% of gross electricity consumption in 2015. Moreover, the use of renewables in electricity generation in 2015 reduced CO2 emissions by 3.2 Mt and avoided €286 million in fossil fuel imports.

The following table presents the total funding for renewable energy projects via the PSO since 2011: