Embrace wind energy for ‘greater good’, says Minister

Ireland must be progressive and understand the "great opportunities" offered by wind energy investment, outgoing Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Alex White has said.

In a series of unscripted remarks to the industry yesterday, Mr White said while there was agreement on the need to support the “fabric of life” in rural Ireland, there was also a need to form consensus on meeting the challenges of global warming.

In turn, he told industry representatives they must “listen and understand”, to be realistic without necessarily compromising on ambition.

The 2016 annual Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) conference in Dublin heard of the increasing reliance on the sector to help Ireland reach its carbon reduction targets in line with the EU's COP21 commitments.

Ireland must reach a 40 per cent renewable electricity target by 2020. Last year almost 24 per cent of Irish electricity needs were met by the wind energy industry.

Climate policy

The world stands at a “critical juncture” of energy and climate policy, Mr White said, adding that the recently-published White Paper on Energy had set out policy objectives to substantially decarbonise Ireland.

Dependency on imported energy fell to 85 per cent in 2014 but cost €5.7 billion or 3.2 per cent of GDP. Today wind energy provides more than 3,400 jobs following investment of about €3.8 billion. The industry is determined to capitalise on the momentum.

In a political swansong on energy policy – he lost his seat in the recent election – Mr White expressed his personal views that difficulties must be overcome in the interest of the greater good.

“I would say to communities across the country: be progressive and understand the great opportunities that are associated with the development of renewable energy,” he said.

“Climate change is a challenge for all of us. It’s not something that just affects urban areas or just affects rural areas.”

He also defended the planning system which is heavily relied upon to mediate between the competing interests of wind energy development and Irish communities.

Guidelines

He said various decisions “demonstrate to me that the planning system is robust and the planning system does work. And I wonder really about the necessity to amend guidelines or amend the planning code”.

However, Peter Baillie, managing director of Energia Renewables, told the conference the system needed to be addressed.

“I believe the planning appeals threshold is too low. Anyone can appeal for €20 without a valid grounds test. That’s not the case in Northern Ireland,” he said.

"An Bord Pleanála is swamped. It takes too long and it does appear at times, looking at it from the outside, that results can be a bit of a lottery with a lack of clarity sometimes on how decisions are arrived at.

“You also have judicial reviews now prevalent, and all that is leading to longer timelines for projects.”

Meanwhile, in a policy document launched at the event, the IWEA said a potential Brexit could compound Ireland’s energy challenges.

In said there was an onus to “create certainty” on Irish energy policy and, within the regulatory environment, to facilitate investment.