Extra green power will cut oil imports
Communications, Marine and Natural Resources Minister Dermot Ahern said the extra green power would cut oil import bills by four million barrels annually, improve the balance of payments and cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
He told the Irish Wind Energy Association conference in Cork yesterday that the Government would deliver its commitment to provide an additional 578MW of green power in 2005.
Under the latest green energy drive, called AER VI, the Government is to providing mechanisms that will support 500MW mainly from onshore wind energy and 78MW from biomass and offshore wind. This will bring the total energy from renewable sources to 735 MW, up from 157 MW at the end of 2002. In total, this is capable of generating power for 500,000 homes.
Mr Ahern said he believed the package put in place under the AER VI energy programme was attractive to investors and dealt with setbacks experienced by the industry with the erosion of some tax breaks under the last Finance Act.
"Now I look to the industry to respond positively to the new round and I believe that it will. I want to see projects being built," he said.
Mr Ahern also announced yesterday that an electricity grid upgrade programme which is necessary to accommodate the connection of wind energy projects to the system has received the sanction of the Commission for Energy Regulation.
"This is a major boost to plans to build new renewable energy projects and crucial to the development of renewable energy over the next few years," Mr Ahern added.
