Solar thermal policy in
Ireland
General
The
largest share of renewable electricity in Ireland is from hydropower
and wind power. Ireland's target for renewable generation is to supply
15% of electricity demand by 2010 with major contribution expected from
wind energy, as further large scale hydro development in Ireland is
unlikely.
The
Renewable Energy Division of the Department of Communications, Energy
and Natural Resources is responsible for implementing measures to
increase the penetration of renewable energy technologies in
electricity production in Ireland. Ireland launched its programme to
promote electricity from renewable energy sources in 1996 in "Renewable
Energy - A Strategy for the Future". Policy on renewables was reviewed
in 1999 with the publication of a Green Paper on Sustainable Energy. In
December 2003 a further review of the sector was launched with the
publication of the consultation document “Options for Future Renewable
Energy Policy, Targets and Programmes”. This was followed in May 2004
with the setting up of the Renewable Energy Development Group, which
has been considering the future options on policies, targets,
programmes and support measures to develop the increased use of
renewable energy in the electricity market to 2010 and beyond. The
development of Ireland's renewable energy resources in electricity
generation this has been achieved primarily through the administration
of competitions under the Alternative Energy Requirement (AER)
Programme. The six competitions held to date have been conducted under
a competitive tendering process.
On 1st May 2006 the
publication of the next market support mechanism for renewables was
announced, to be known as the Renewable Energy Feed In Tariff (REFIT).
In September 2009 additional categories were added to the list of
eligible technologies, which at the time of writing (January 2010)
is still not definitive as the schem is subject to state aids
clearance which has yet to be obtained from the European Commission .
The planned Terms of Conditions of the following REFIT II - Additional
Categories (September 2009) relate to support for the construction of
biomass/anaerobic digestion CHP, ocean energy (wave and tidal)
and offshore wind.
According
to the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources
the target for the share of energy from renewable sources in gross
final consumption of energy in the year 2020 for Ireland is 16% (in the
year 2005 the share was 3.1%). The Directive has a mandatory 10 %
target for transport to be achieved by all Member States, which refers
to renewable sources as a whole, not biofuels alone.
Renewable energy projections according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Ireland
The
National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Ireland was submitted
in July 2010. The target according to Annex I of Directive 2009/28/EC
is 16% for the year 2020 and the projected NREAP share in that year
exactly matches the target. According to the projection, the most
important contribution in the year 2020 is expected from wind power
(12.0 TWh or 1029 ktoe, 45% of all renewable energy). Second important
contribution is expected from biomass (renewable heating and cooling)
(486 ktoe, 21% of all renewable energy). The third largest contribution
is from biodiesel (renewable transport) (342 ktoe, 15% of all renewable
energy). Wind power contributes with 4.6 GW (12.0 TWh) in the year 2020
(onshore wind 4.1 GW and 10.2 TWh, offshore wind 0.6 GW and 1.7 TWh).
For solar photovoltaic the 2020 contribution is projected to be 0.0 GW
(0.0 TWh). For solar thermal the 2020 contribution is projected to be
20 ktoe. The two most important biofuels are projected to contribute
342 ktoe (biodiesel) and 139 ktoe (bioethanol / bio-ETBE) by 2020. The
renewable electricity production from solid biomass amounts to 0.7 TWh
(59 ktoe) and for biogas it is expected to be 0.3 TWh (27 ktoe). The
consumption of renewable heat is expected to amount to 453 ktoe for
solid biomass and 33 ktoe for biogas.
Renewable heating and
cooling: solar thermal
The
market for solar thermal has seen important growth in Ireland since the
beginning of the 21st century. However, despite the current growth
rates, the penetration of this technology remains relatively small as
compared with neighbouring European states.
The first incentives
offered specifically for renewable heat in Ireland were in support of
solar thermal technologies in 2001. Since that time, additional capital
grants and subsidies have been offered for solar thermal through the
Greener Homes and Renewable Heat Deployment Programme (ReHeat) arising
out of Budget 2006 and Budget 2007.
The Greener Homes Scheme was allocated €27million in the Budget
2006 package figure. Budget 2007 provided for an additional
increase of €5million in 2007 and provision for additional spending of
€7million in 2008 and €8million in 2009.
Through the Greener Homes
Scheme administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland, home owners can
apply
for a grant of €250 per m2 of flat plate collectors, and €300 per
m2 of evacuated tube collectors, up to a maximum of 6m2. The total
number of applications to the Greener Homes Schemes to date (April
2009) is 26,352, of which solar thermal is 54%.
Future programme changes
expected
No information available.
Sources
http://www.estif.org/solarkeymark/skii/results/countryreports/final/R.IRELAND-FINAL.pdf,
Status Republic of Ireland, December 2007
Renewables for heating
and cooling, untapped potential. IEA, July 2007,
http://www.iea.org/Textbase/publications/free_new_Desc.asp?PUBS_ID=1975
Greener Homes Schemes, Sustainable Energy Ireland,
http://www.sei.ie/index.asp?locID=1305&docID=-1 (sourced August
2008)
Renewable energy factsheet Ireland,
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy_policy/facts_en.htm (sourced January 2008)
Greener Homes, http://www.sei.ie/Grants/GreenerHomes/Scheme_Statistics (sourced April 2009)
The National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) are all published on the Transparency Platform on Renewable Energy: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/action_plan_en.htm (sourced July - December 2010)
Renewable Energy Projections as Published in the National Renewable Energy Action Plans of the European Member States, http://www.ecn.nl/nreap (sourced December 2010)
Interactive EurObserv’ER Database
http://www.eurobserv-er.org
Last update: December 2010
This information can be referenced without permission provided that the
source is mentioned completely and correctly: 'Interactive EurObserv'ER
Database, http://www.eurobserv-er.org (date of last update)'
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