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“The RHI is part of the whole budget discussion at the moment. I’m meeting with [Finance Minister] Paschal Donohoe next week,” Minister Naughten said this Wednesday.
Following the overspend on a similar scheme in Northern Ireland, he added that much of the current discussions focused on ensuring that “we can stand over it”. The minister also said that the scheme would support biomass boilers and anaerobic digestors producing biogas.
Irish Bioenergy Association chief executive Ger Devlin, who has been taking part in the talks, told the Irish Farmers Journal that the latest budget proposal for RHI was €1.4bn over 15 years, or €90m per year. While this is down on an initial proposal of €2bn earlier this year, “that will see a very positive uptake around those different technologies,” Devlin said.
Listen to an interview with Ger Devlin in our podcast below:
Devlin confirmed earlier announcements that the RHI scheme and the parallel development of a trading service to harvest and distribute biomass through Bord na Mona’s new bioenergy division would favour Irish-grown energy crops.
“I can’t put a country of origin requirement on it under EU rules, but I can put in sustainability criteria,” Minister Naughten said. He added that policy would prioritise the use of biomass grown a shorter transport distance away from final users such as Bord na Mona’s power stations in the Midlands.
You still need to see the colour of the money, and that’s what everybody is waiting for
The industry now awaits the details of the RHI scheme – including the level of financial support to be offered and the terms and conditions, under which some farm-based heat users such as pig or poultry houses may be eligible. “You still need to see the colour of the money, and that’s what everybody is waiting for,” said Cormac O’Carroll, director of wood industry at Pöyry Management Consulting.
Listen: renewable heat scheme details emerging slowly
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