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The first renewable electricity support scheme (RESS) due to open next year will become accessible to farmer-led projects only in a second phase, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment Denis Naughten said at the Energy in Agriculture open day on Tuesday.
The scheme will run auctions where renewable producers, such as solar farms planned on farmers’ land, can bid to supply green electricity at the lowest possible subsidised rate.
“The first auction is to get deployment that will meet our 2020 targets,” Minister Naughten said, favouring operators capable of supplying power within months or face “severe penalties”. Industry sources say these will most likely be large wind farm developers.
While participants in the first auction must offer local communities an opportunity to invest in their projects, it is only from the second auction in 2020 that 10% of supported capacity will be reserved for community-led projects such as those of farmers, the minister said.
“There will be a ring-fenced allocation and pot, whether it’s through the IFA or other farming organisations, to design projects and go to Eirgrid with them,” he added.
Attendance at the event in Gurteen College, Co Tipperary, was smaller than in previous years and the farmers present were mostly those with a concrete project in the pipeline, with many complaining of delays in accessing the national grid to supply renewable electricity regardless of the schemes available.
“I have an application gone in two years and it seems to be pushed out,” said Co Wicklow sheep farmer Ashley Bourne, despite new rules favouring projects with planning permission such as his.
Separate grants of up to €3,800 for rooftop solar panels and battery storage may be extended to farm buildings, but this is at the “analysis” stage, Minister Naughten said.
IFA president Joe Healy urged speedier deployment of incentives across the renewables industry, saying: “We cannot afford another false dawn, or we’ll lose all farmers.”
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