John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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561. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans in setting a 70% target for renewable electricity by 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42332/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department has the lead role in developing Ireland’s first National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), covering the period 2021-2030. The creation of a NECP is one of the key provisions of the proposed Governance of the Energy Union Regulation, part of the European Clean Energy Package published in November 2016. This is an overarching, consolidating regulation that will consolidate the existing patchwork of national energy and climate planning and reporting obligations. The NECP will include trajectories for renewable energy (including renewable electricity), energy efficiency, and national emissions, as well as the measures required to achieve these trajectories.

The Plan, which will cover all five dimensions of the Energy Union, will contain the policies and measures proposed to reach our 2030 energy and climate goals, and will be based on a common EU template to allow for comparability. The first draft is due for submission to the European Commission by 31 December 2018, with the final version due by 31 December 2019. Energy and Climate Change modelling work to look at energy and climate policy options out to 2030 has already started under the auspices of the Technical Research and Modelling (TRAM) Group. The outcomes of this modelling work will underpin the development of the draft NECP, in particular on identifying cost effective, yet realistic solutions that will contribute to compliance with our binding 2021-2030 national greenhouse gas emissions target and underpin the development of our renewable energy and energy efficiency ambitions.

The high level design of the new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) was approved by Government in July 2018 and it is expected that the first renewable electricity auctions will take place under RESS in 2019. The RESS has been designed to deliver Ireland’s contribution towards an EU-wide renewable energy target of 32% out to 2030, within a competitive auction-based, cost effective framework. The scheme will provide for a renewable electricity (RES-E) ambition of up to a maximum of 55% by 2030 subject to determining the cost effective level which will be set out in Ireland's first draft National Energy and Climate Plan.