Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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181. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of renewable energy communities that received connection to the grid in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49198/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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182. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment a breakdown of the cost to connect to the grid, per renewable energy community, in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49199/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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183. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the duration between application and connection to the grid, per renewable energy community, in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49200/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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184. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide a breakdown of renewable energy community projects that were successful in the RESS 1 but that did not secure a grid connection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49201/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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185. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide a breakdown of renewable energy community projects that were successful in the RESS 1 and secured a grid connection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49202/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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186. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide a breakdown of renewable energy community projects that were successful in the RESS 2; how many of those have connected to the grid; how many of those are still waiting on a connection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49203/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 174, 175, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185 and 186 together.

Through the first two RESS auctions, my Department has provided pathways and supports for communities to participate in renewable energy projects through the application of a community projects category and also through the requirement of a mandatory community benefit fund for all RESS projects.

In total, 7 community projects were successful in the RESS 1 auction, 4 projects remain in progress and are either energised or due to energise this year. All four are solar projects, totalling 16.95 MW in generation. In RESS 2, 8 community projects were successful in the auction, are continuing to progress though the RESS 2 Implementation Agreement milestones and are expected to energise by end of 2025.

Through my Department’s continued engagement with Renewable Energy Communities (RECs), there is evidence of significant challenges that REC projects may face with the competitive, auction based nature of RESS, along with grid and other and other barriers to project delivery.

Support for communities for the development of renewable projects will now transition to the non-competitive Small-Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (SRESS). The export tariff phase of SRESS, to support small scale and community renewable projects, is due to be launched later this year. This is expected to offer a simpler route to market for community projects and boost community participation in the Government’s renewable energy ambition.

Responsibility for connection to and charging for access to the electricity network is a matter for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). The management of new connections to the electricity grid, including community led energy projects is a matter, at distribution level, for ESB Networks and, at transmission level, for EirGrid, under rules determined by the CRU.

I have asked officials in my Department to forward the queries raised in the questions to the relevant system operator for their attention and direct reply to the Deputies.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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187. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment about funding accessibility for renewable energy projects; when a renewable energy project is eligible for funding from the SEAI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49204/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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190. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to outline the support and resourcing for renewable energy communities; to provide a breakdown of staffing to support these projects at the SEAI in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49207/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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192. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment about support and resourcing for renewable energy communities for energy generation; to provide a breakdown of staffing to support these projects at the SEAI in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49209/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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193. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide a breakdown of costs incurred by his Department for consulting services for renewable energy communities in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49210/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 176, 178, 187, 190, 192 and 193 together.

Through the first two RESS auctions, my Department has provided pathways and supports for communities to participate in renewable energy projects through the application of a community projects category and also through the requirement of a mandatory community benefit fund for all RESS projects.

Furthermore, a Community Enabling Framework for renewable energy projects includes a package of enabling supports including technical, financial and legal services which has been rolled out to assist communities in navigating the challenging terrain of electricity generation.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is leading in implementing and facilitating these components of the framework, which include a trusted advisory service, enabling grants and nine information guides on the SEAI website. As a result, my Department has not incurred any direct costs for consulting services for renewable energy communities in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023. There are currently two full time SEAI staff working on the community energy supports and delivery of the Community Benefit Fund National Register.

Given the significant grant programme of up to €180,000 per project, only projects that have completed a full feasibility study are eligible to apply for grants. To date SEAI has provided two grants to RESS 1 projects, totalling €80,000.

In addition, to address some of the challenges associate with grid connections for communities, SEAI is also undertaking grid studies on a county basis to support communities in identifying sites within their locality that are most likely to have an economically viable grid connection. Three such studies have taken place so far, with accompanying community information events highlighting the results. Four more studies are planned in the coming months.

Support for communities for the development of renewable projects will now transition to the non-competitive Small-Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (SRESS). The export tariff phase of SRESS, to support small scale and community renewable projects, is due to be launched later this year.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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188. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to outline the support and resourcing for renewable energy communities for energy generation; to provide a breakdown of staffing to support these projects at all relevant departments in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49205/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 188 together.

My Department has provided pathways and supports for communities to participate in renewable energy projects through the application of a community projects category in the first two Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) auctions. From 2020, when the RESS was introduced, there have been approximately three staff working on the community energy programme. From the end of 2021 a dedicated unit was established to focus solely on the small scale and community renewable energy.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is leading in implementing and facilitating the Community Enabling Framework for renewable energy projects which includes a package of enabling supports including technical, financial and legal services which has been rolled out to assist communities in navigating the challenging terrain of electricity generation. This include a trusted advisory service, enabling grants and nine information guides on the SEAI website.

There are currently two full time SEAI staff working on the community energy supports and delivery of the Community Benefit Fund National Register.