About Bioenergy
Bioenergy Market Ireland
Primary energy consumption in Ireland in 2007 was 16.1Mtoe , over 90% of which consisted of imported oil, gas and coal. Renewable energy represented 2.9% of Ireland’s total primary energy in 2007. As illustrated in the chart below, biomass contributed over 50% of the renewable energy element.
Renewable energy supply (RES) can be broken down into three distinct segments based on the three core applications - Heat (RES-H), Electricity (RES-E) and Transport (RES-T).
RES-H
Renewables represented 3.4% of thermal energy use in Ireland in 2007, with a target of 5% by 2010 and 12% by 2020. Renewable thermal energy production is dominated by biomass within the Industrial sector, representing 152ktoe of the overall 185ktoe used in 2007 as outlined in the following chart.
RES-E
Renewables contributed 9.4% of electricity supply in 2007, with a target of 15% by 2010 and 40% by 2020. The biggest contributor to renewable electricity in 2007 was wind at 6.7%. Biomass accounted for just 0.46% (primarily landfill gas). The Government announced a range of measures in early 2008 to help meet the national target of renewable electricity by extending the renewable energy feed-in tariff (REFIT) scheme to include Biomass CHP as well as Anaerobic CHP, Offshore Wind and Ocean Energy. Under the scheme, electricity generated from Biomass CHP will receive a guaranteed 12c/kWh when sold to the national grid.
| REFIT Reference Prices | c/kWh | Announced |
|---|---|---|
| Wind < 5MW | 5.9 | 01/05/2006 |
| Wind > 5MW | 5.7 | 01/05/2006 |
| Hydro < 5MW | 7.2 | 01/05/2006 |
| Biomass LFG | 7 | 01/05/2006 |
| Other Biomass | 7.2 | 01/05/2006 |
| Biomass CHP | 12 | 24/01/2008 |
| Anaerobic CHP | 12 | 24/01/2008 |
| Offshore Wind | 14 | 08/02/2008 |
| Wave | 22 | 15/01/2008 |
RES-T
There was a significant increase in the share of transport energy from renewables in 2007, albeit from a low base. In absolute terms, RES-T increased from 1ktoe in 2005 to 21ktoe in 2007, representing 0.5% of total transport energy use, with a target of 3% by 2010.
Planning Permission Exemption
In 2008 the Irish Government introduced a Statutory Instrument to exempt certain renewable energy projects from the need to secure planning permission. This removes a significant bottleneck in project development and reduces the normal project timeline by between 3 and 6 months. Combined Heat and Power Plants of less than 500 square metres in size are covered by this legislation.
| 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RES-H Sectoral Split (ktoe) | 108 | 92 | 117 | 130 | 130 | 126 | 146 | 183 | 186 | 185 |
| Industry* | 63 | 62 | 100 | 113 | 113 | 108 | 129 | 163 | 164 | 152 |
| Food, beverages and tobacco | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 44 | 45 | 54 | 58 | 59 |
| Wood and wood products | 61 | 59 | 96 | 109 | 109 | 64 | 84 | 109 | 106 | 93 |
| Residential | 45 | 30 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 24 |
| Commercial/Public Services | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
It is estimated that a total of 272ktoe of renewable heat energy will be required in 2010 to meet the Government’s targeted growth in the three years 2008-2010. The Government has committed to a range of actions to help boost the sector including a programme for public buildings to be converted to bioenergy heating and the use of biomass CHP in future major public site developments.
