An Aran islands energy co-op has criticised a decision by Minister for Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan to exclude community projects from a new offshore wind support scheme.
The policy change has also been criticised by Ireland South MEP Seán Kelly, who has emphasised "the importance of community-led energy projects in Ireland".
Mr Ryan’s department has confirmed that a category for community projects will not be included in the third renewable energy support scheme (RESS), which is due to be initiated later this year.
It said it intends to roll out a separate “Small-Scale Generation Scheme”, as part of the policy change for RESS 3, which means that community groups do not have to compete with large-scale operators.
Kelly points out that in the first two phases of the RESS, 169 wind and solar farm projects were successful, with approximately 17 of these projects being community-owned.
He says an “alternative mechanism for community-led energy projects” should be launched as part of RESS 3 to “ensure we do not lose opportunities to support local communities to foster a sustainable and inclusive energy transition”.
Dara Ó Maoildhia, chair of Comharchumann Fuinnimh Oileáin Árainn Teoranta (CFOAT), the Aran islands energy co-op, noted that a “community-led” and “bottom-up” approach was central to a white paper on energy, passed into law by former energy minister Alex White.
“As a result of that, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) initiated the Sustainable Energy Communities Scheme (SECs), of which there are now close to 1000 across the country, “O Maoildhia said.
“Also the RESS was established, with a ringfenced section for communities,” he said.
“There is no such indication of this community-led and bottom-up policy being enacted in relation to Ireland's offshore wind,” he said.
“The only “doffing of the hat” towards it is the community benefit fund, which is a top-down approach towards communities, and not the bottom-up, community-led approach required,” Ó Maoildhia said.
Energy operators approved through existing RESS schemes are required to provide community benefit funds.
However, this fixed sum does not give communities a permanent stake in renewable energy projects which may prove to be increasingly profitable, Ó Maoildhia pointed out.
An analysis published by University College Cork (UCC) researchers last year found that community projects located on Scotland’s Western Isles generated 34 times more benefit on average for islanders than commercially operated projects.
Noting the financial challenges involved for communities, the UCC study noted that Scottish groups have been opting to co-own wind farms alongside private developers, through acquisition of a stake in a project or a number of individual turbines.
Kelly, who was the lead negotiator for the European Parliament’s biggest political grouping, the EPP, on the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, said he has been a strong supporter of “citizen energy projects”.
The EU directive mandates EU member states to create favourable conditions for the development of these projects, such as simplifying administrative procedures, reducing regulatory barriers, and providing financial support, he pointed out.
“This includes the right to sell excess electricity back to the grid, and receive fair compensation for it,” he said.
“Ireland is targeting 7 GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade, and we must ensure that local communities have the opportunity to participate in this transition to renewable energy,” Kelly said.
Ryan’s department said that the Government’s Climate Action Plan includes a target to deliver 500MW of community renewable energy by 2030.
It said its new Small-Scale Generation Scheme, which is due to be launched later this year, “will align more closely to the capacity of the community energy sector and ensure a more sustainable delivery of this renewable energy community target”.
• Lorna Siggins interviewed Dara Ó Maoildhia for an Afloat podcast in 2021 here
