Up to 20-fold hike in ESB renewable fees

Farmers planning a renewable electricity project could see application fees to connect to the national grid multiplied by up to 20 under proposed rules included in a current public consultation ending this Friday.

The application fee currently ranges from €763 to €8,841 for projects of 11kW to 4MW, which is the size of farm-scale wind turbines, rooftop solar panel arrays or biogas plants. Up to €7,000 must be paid upfront as a non-refundable deposit.

However, several industry sources told the Irish Farmers Journal that current proposals would see these fees increase to between €1,526 and €33,842.

From €1,557 to €33,842

The 250kW to 500kW category, under which large numbers of on-farm renewable projects would fall, would see its application fee increase more than 20-fold from €1,557 to €33,842.

A spokesperson for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) said the proposal aimed at aligning fees between ESB Networks and Eirgrid, which deals with larger electricity generators. The CRU will make a decision on the proposal next year.

Farmers and consultants planning renewable projects said the higher fees would make their plans unviable and accused the ESB of attempting to restrict competition for its electricity generation business.

A spokesperson for ESB Networks said the company’s network management and generation businesses were strictly separate and any decisions or proposals relative to its network activity are driven by its obligations as Ireland’s licensed distribution system operator.

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Special focus: energy