David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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90. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to outline the way that the various State agencies under the aegis of his Department are facilitating the rollout of generation of renewal energy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50372/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Solar energy is a fast accelerating source of renewable indigenous electricity in Ireland and is rapidly transforming Ireland’s energy system with approximately 700 MW of grid connected capacity and expected to reach 1 GW by year end.

As well as its clear climate benefits, the Energy Security Package I launched this week earmarks the rapid programme of solar delivery underway, which is having a real impact on supply security and meeting electricity demand particularly over the summer months during periods of network/generation outages and maintenance and low wind output.

The Climate Action Plan 2023 includes the following targets of up to 5 GW of solar by 2025 and 8 GW solar by 2030 as well as supporting at least 500 MW of local community-based renewable energy projects and increased levels of new micro-generation and small-scale generation.

Ireland's acceleration of solar energy puts us on track to triple renewables by 2030 as recommended by the International Energy Agency to keep on track to keep global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Solar PV grant scheme under the Micro-generation Support Scheme (MSS) is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The scheme came into operation in February 2022 and built on the success of the previous pilot version of the grant scheme.

At that time, SEAI assessed the possibility of continuing the previous domestic battery grant under the MSS but found that given the high cost of batteries and the impending introduction of the Clean Export Guarantee, making any residual renewable electricity not consumed on the premises eligible for an export payment, that a stand-alone battery grant did not represent efficient use of limited Exchequer funds.

Micro-generation installations which include battery storage systems are still eligible for grant support and there is now no need to install a battery in order to avail of the maximum grant. Moreover, since 1 May 2023, a zero rate of VAT has applied to the supply and installation of Solar PV systems. At this time, Government ensured that this zero rate of VAT is also applicable to any ancillary equipment installed as part of the same contract of works, including battery storage systems; which supports the installation of batteries where consumers make that choice.

The Government also offers supports to deliver on the target of 1 million Electric Vehicles (EV) to be deployed by 2030. It should be noted that the battery in EVs is of a higher capacity than a typical domestic battery storage solution for micro-generation. In the future, it is expected that EV batteries will play an important part in electricity demand flexibility services, whereby they are used to store excess micro-generated electricity during the day and provide electricity to the home or the grid after daylight, and this could represent a better investment for the householder.

The high levels of interest in solar PV grants since 2022 suggests the MSS is working well. However, a mid-scheme review of the MSS is currently underway, which will assess the effectiveness of both the scheme’s eligibility criteria and how the domestic solar PV grant operates. Any changes to grant support available under the MSS will be announced in due course.