Rabbitte hopes to have subsidy for offshore energy sector soon

ENERGY Minister Pat Rabbitte said he hopes to put a renewable energy feed-in tariffs subsidy application, for Ireland’s offshore energy sector, to Government before Christmas.

These tariffs have recently been granted by the EU for biomass and other technologies here. The programme provides a guaranteed reference price for renewable energy and is seen as being essential to enabling development of renewable energy in Ireland. To date there has never been such a tariffs programme in place for the offshore (as opposed to onshore) energy sector here and approval would be a big promoter of inward investment for the sector.

“As regards renewable energy feed-in tariffs subsidy for offshore, I hope to be able to go to Government reasonably soon. The circumstances that are pre-occupying Government at the moment are to do with the general financial and economic environment that we are in and immediate budgetary preparations, but I hope to be in a position to go to Government before Christmas,” Mr Rabbitte said at yesterday’s National Offshore Wind Association of Ireland annual conference in Dublin.