Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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153. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the low price being paid to electricity microgenerators through the feed-in tariff (details supplied); if he will introduce a scheme in which microgenerators will be incentivised to supply electricity to their neighbours, given this would be subject to low transmission and distribution costs and would avoid a situation where electricity supplied from power stations via the grid is subject to losses of 7 to 8%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47903/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) published a decision for the Clean Export Guarantee (CEG) tariff which outlines arrangements for implementation of the tariff, including eligibility criteria and remuneration methodology. As part of this, the CRU decided that suppliers will set their individual CEG tariffs on a competitive market basis which must be reflective of the market, or wholesale, value of the electricity, in line with the requirements of Article 21(2)(d) of the recast Renewable Energy Directive. We are aware that suppliers have published a range of CEG tariffs from €13.5c/kWh up to €20c/kWh which allows customers to shop around and switch suppliers to obtain the best rates for selling and purchasing electricity.

It is important to note that a key aspect of the eligibility criteria for the CEG is that microgenerators must meet the definition for ‘renewables self-consumers', as per the recast Renewable Energy Directive, This places a focus on generating electricity for one's own consumption, and thereafter with an entitlement to receive remuneration for excess electricity fed into the grid.

This remuneration is different to the retail electricity market and the prices a domestic electricity consumer is charged by their supplier. Retail prices take account of the cost to purchase electricity on the wholesale market, while covering the operational costs of the company and their operating margin; and also remaining competitive in the marketplace. This also includes the network charges required for use of the electricity grid. As such, retail electricity prices and CEG remuneration tariffs cannot be compared on a like for like basis.

Maximising the consumption of self-generated renewable electricity will provide the most benefit to microgenerators to offset rising electricity costs, as well as shorten the payback period for their investment. This can be achieved by actively matching home energy use against the peak generating times of the Solar PV system, whenever possible.