Spokesperson on Climate Action, Darren O’Rourke TD, has called for a cross-Government high level taskforce to be established to bring forward recommendations on how to lower the price of renewable energy here, to bring it in line with European norms.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate Justice, Senator Lynn Boylan, said it is government policy which will decide whether Irish consumers are paying the lowest, or the highest, prices for renewable electricity in Europe.

Teachta O’Rourke said:

“Next week we are expecting the results of the second auction under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) to be published.

“It’s expected the final prices in the RESS 2 auction will be significantly higher than they were in the first auction in 2020. We are going in the wrong direction on the cost of renewables.

“Although this will still be lower than wholesale electricity prices, our prices are much higher than other European countries, and more needs to be done to lower this price to deliver savings for households.

“I’m calling for a cross-Government high level taskforce to be established, to work with industry, to bring forward recommendations within six months on how we can lower these prices.

“Urgent action is needed now to deliver savings for households and to ensure Ireland is competitive to export excess wind energy to Europe.”

Senator Boylan said;

“Why, when we hear so much about our excellent wind energy resources, are our prices so high? In 2020, we had our first auction where wind energy cleared at €74 per megawatt-hour (MWh).

“This was the highest in Europe in 2020 and in 2021. No one else was in the 70s and you will see prices in the 50s and, in Spain, even in the 20s.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. The wind industry has told the Climate Action Committee that they could produce electricity from Irish wind at half the current price. All that is in the way is government policy.

“Factors driving these high costs such as delays with planning and high grid connection costs must be addressed.

“It is the choices the government has made that have given us the highest prices and it will be the choices the government makes which will decide whether Irish consumers are paying the lowest, or the highest, possible prices for renewable electricity.”