Bioenergy Implementation Plan - South-East Regional Authority

The way in which Member States will meet their targets should be set out in National Action Plans to be notified to the
Commission. These Plans should contain sectoral targets and measures consistent with achieving the agreed overall
national targets and set their own specific objectives for electricity, biofuels, heating and cooling.
3.3. National Bioenergy Policy
3.3.1. Green Paper on Sustainable Energy – 1999( 12 )
The Green Paper (1999) included a decision to support the building of up to 500 MW of renewable energy based
electricity plants, primarily wind powered, to be connected to the electricity network by 2005. In 2004, the target
was revised upwards to 718 MW.
A significant proportion of this revised target was to be reached through contracts offered under the government’s
Alternative Energy Requirement (AER) Programme. Under the AER programme competitions were organised in which
project developers bid prices at which they were willing to sell electricity from renewable energy powered electricity
generating stations to the ESB for 15 years. The lowest priced bids, up to capacity limits announced in the competition,
received contracts with the ESB. The ESB was compensated for the net additional costs incurred from a public service
obligation (PSO) levy funded by electricity consumers.
Since the programme was launched in 1995, six AER competitions have been held. The technologies supported
include wind energy, small-scale hydropower, combined heat and power (CHP), biomass (landfill gas, CHP and anaerobic
digestion) and offshore wind. The final AER competitions, AER V and AER VI, are currently in progress and aim to ensure
that the current 718 MW target is reached.
3.3.2. National Climate Change Strategy – 2000( 13 )
To ensure that Ireland reaches its target under the Kyoto Protocol and following a comprehensive public consultation
process, the Government published the National Climate Change Strategy in October 2000. The Strategy provided a tenyear
policy framework for action to reduce Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions to 13% above the 1990 levels by
the first commitment period (2008 - 2012) of the Kyoto Agreement.
3.3.3. The Bioenergy Action Plan for Ireland (2007)( 14 )
The Bioenergy Action Plan for Ireland, published on 4th March 2007, set out an integrated strategy for the collective
delivery of the potential benefits of bioenergy resources across the electricity, transport, heat, agriculture, enterprise
and environment sectors. The Action Plan recognised that a sustained multi-agency collaboration is required at national,
regional and local level to ensure these targets and objectives are realised.
south-east regional authority
údarás réigiúnach an Oir-DheisCIrt
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