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The renewables sector in Ireland is at a crossroads as it struggles to come to terms with how various parts of the operational renewable jigsaw fit together to make it work.
We can clearly see from some of our contributors in this Focus supplement that the Irish solar power sector has almost come to a complete stop.
While farmers have halted their interest in this solar development, you can imagine the frustration of the service sector that is trying to develop real solutions for farmers and provide technology that will keep farmers investing.
It is utterly frustrating for the sector to be treated like this with direction only coming in fits and starts and no coherent structure or plan.
It is deeply disheartening for farmers to visit countries like the Netherlands, Germany and the UK, where farmers invest in renewable technologies such as solar and use the energy produced on farm (see Dutch dairy farm story this week) with the balance sold to the national grid at 13 to 14 c/KWh.
Second income
It forms a second stream of income and utilises roof space or otherwise that might not necessarily be used.
Minister Naughten said that his Department “is unlikely to provide any significant support for solar energy in the short term”.
This supplement goes in depth into some of the areas that have specific challenges and potential solutions for those problems. The areas focused on include Biogas and Solar Energy development.
Developing on-farm anaerobic digestion
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