Ireland
Ireland has a FIT program. The program is set out in the Renewable Energy Feed in Tarriff (RE-FIT – 2006) - A Competition for Electricity Generation from Biomass, Hydro and Wind.
Summary
Under the Irish support scheme the retail suppliers of electricity enter so called Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with generators of electricity from renewable energies. Applicants must have planning permission and a grid connection offer for their projects and they will then be able to contract with any licensed electricity supplier up to the notified fixed prices. Under a PPA, the supplier undertakes to purchase all the output from a selected new renewable energy plant at contract prices which are fixed between the generator and the supplier at the commencement of each individual contract for 15 years.
In 2007, the reference prices amount to the following:
Large wind-power plants (>5 MW): 5,7 €ct/kWh
Small wind-power plants (<5 MW): 5,9 €ct/kWh
Hydro-power plants: 7,2 €ct/kWh
Biomass Landfill Gas: 7,0 €ct/kWh
Other biomass plants: 7,2 €ct/kWh
The fund used to finance the FIT payments will be collected from all subscribers to the electricity network by the transmission system operator through a levy. The levy will be imposed under the supervision of the Commission for Electricity Regulation, an independent regulator established by law. It will be based on the capacity of the connection of each subscriber, and the rate will vary depending on whether the connection serves a domestic account or a professional account.
In 2009, the Irish Energy Minister announced to establish a new small-scale feed-in tariff. The tariff is supposed to amount to €0.19/kWh, but the rate only applies for the first 4,000 projects registered during the next three years.The incentive applies to wind, solar, hydro and combined heat-and-power projects. Ireland’s national energy agency, Sustainable Energy Ireland, is taking applications for grants to cover 40 percent of the cost of projects 50 kilowatts or less, but only 50 projects are expected to qualify.
EC review and assessment
Read a summary of the European Commission’s 2005 review of Ireland’s renewable electricity policies and of its 2007 assessment of Ireland’s progress in meeting the target set out in Directive 2001/77/EC.
Legal analysis
There currently is no legal analysis of this law. If you are a lawyer from Ireland, and interested in submitting an analysis, or providing more up-to-date information about the current status of the renewable energy policy, we would be happy to hear form you. Contact us
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