Ireland announces enhanced support for solar power projects

The Irish government improved its support for companies switching to solar power on Tuesday, opening up an ongoing scheme providing grants for solar photovoltaic installations to a broader range of businesses.

Story updated to correct unit of measurement and statistic

The approved changes to the ‘Non-Domestic Microgeneration Scheme’ open up funding to bigger projects, ranging from a 6 kilowatt peak (kWp) to 1,000 kWp and could slash the payback time to as little as five years.

“This move by the government shows Ireland’s continued commitment to supporting all of our citizens, businesses and community organisations – to be part of our journey to a cleaner, cheaper and renewable energy future,” said Climate and Environment Minister Eamon Ryan.

Ireland aims for 80% of its electricity to be from renewable sources by 2030, which would double its 2020 production. It also has a target for five gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity by 2025 and eight GW by the decade’s end.

Meeting the eight GW target will require solar panels on rooftops of every size across the country, said the Irish Solar Energy Association CEO, Conall Bolger.

According to the Irish government, the new range of installation sizes will cover a “significant variety of businesses”, from small, local shops to large manufacturing facilities and public buildings, like sports clubs and community organisations.

“The new support scheme is a welcome step in preventing further reliance on expensive, polluting gas and oil and allowing community organisations to engage in the energy transition,” said Jerry Mac Evilly, head of policy at the climate campaign group Friends of the Earth in Ireland.

“Ireland is unfortunately starting from an extremely low base in comparison with our EU neighbours. However, the penny is beginning to drop. Solar is central to reducing Ireland’s dependency on gas-fired electricity generation,” he told EURACTIV.

Ireland also has a scheme for domestic solar photovoltaics, which Ryan says is “continuing to power ahead” with record application levels in 2022 and 2023. This has led to around 60,000 homes now being registered as microgenerators.

“It is vital, therefore, that businesses are now afforded the same opportunity to start their energy transition journey,” he said.

The solar industry has welcomed the move to widen the scope to incentivise more businesses to get into solar power and decrease costs.

“Homes across Ireland have increasingly embraced the benefits of rooftop solar panels. However, businesses have lacked a comparable level of support,” said Bolger.

“Businesses typically operate in larger premises. Quite simply, they have larger roofs and, therefore, can generate more power. The potential is substantial. Unleashing the commercial rooftop sector could impact our renewable electricity targets,” he added.

For instance, a 1,000 kWp installation would equal around 2,500 solar photovoltaic panels, which could be used on a large factory or warehouse rooftop.

Further support for Irish renewables also came from the country’s grid operator, the EirGrid Group, producing a new strategy to bring the electricity network in line with Ireland’s 2030 renewable energy goals.

“It is clear that urgent action and investment at scale is required,” said Bolger.

“We need to invest in our electricity network so that it is fit for a 21st-century purpose and ready to cater for the anticipated influx of renewable electricity supply. Society and the political system should support this investment so that we can decarbonise,” said Bolger.

(Kira Taylor | EURACTIV.com)

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