Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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43. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he has considered if greater investment in renewables should be made a Government priority to offset the consequent short-term impact on greenhouse gases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46731/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Climate Action Plan 2021 and annex of actions sets out a roadmap to deliver on Ireland's target of a 51% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by the 2030 including a suite of measures and actions to increase the share of electricity demand generated from renewable sources to up to 80%. The Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) is one of the major Government policies to help deliver on this.

RESS 1 is expected to deliver 1,022MW of new renewable generation, 569MW of solar and 453MW of wind, an approximate 15% increase in Ireland’s current renewable energy generation capacity by the end of 2023.To date, 11 projects equalling 353MW of new renewable generation have already connected to the grid under RESS 1, meaning renewable energy capacity connected to the grid in Ireland is now above 5GW.

The second RESS auction (RESS 2) was held this year and is expected to deliver an increase of nearly 20% in Ireland’s renewable energy generation.80 projects were initially successful in RESS 2 and the competition is expected to lead to 300 MW of wind and almost 1,500 MW of solar connected in 2024/25, with additional corporate power purchase agreements likely to support the development of further wind and solar generation.

Design of the RESS 3 auction is also currently under development to further contribute to the up to 80% target. My Department is also finalising the Terms and Conditions on the first of three planned auctions this decade for the Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS). A roadmap of future auctions which sets out the indicative timelines and volumes for onshore and offshore auctions over the coming decade was published in December 2021.

The Climate Action Plan 2021 also commits to achieving at least 5GW of offshore wind by 2030. The Government has recently agreed to increase our ambition in offshore wind energy, moving from 5GW to 7GW, with the additional 2GW earmarked for the supply of green hydrogen, a strategy for which is under development.

Achieving climate targets through accelerating deployment of renewable energy sources will entail investment of tens of billions of euro, including in the installation and maintenance of generation assets, and associated infrastructure and services, as well as in the development of supply chains and port infrastructure.