The announcement last Friday by Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) Minister Jonathan Bell that a separate consultation for the closure of the Northern Ireland Renewable Obligation (NIRO) for small-scale wind projects is to be launched has been welcomed by many in the renewable industry.
A DETI consultation, launched in October last year, proposed to close the NIRO to all onshore wind projects from 1 April 2016. A one-year grace period for projects that had planning permission, grid connection offers and proof of land ownership on 30 September 2015, with an additional one year allowed for projects that meet unforeseen grid connection or radar delays, was included.
Speaking to the enterprise, trade and investment committee this week, DETI’s Chris Stewart said: “The minister has decided not to proceed in the way set out in the consultation, but to adopt a different two-stage approach to closure, separating large- and small-scale.”
Separate closures
The NIRO will still close to large-scale wind projects, presumably over 250kW in size, on 1 April. However, a separate consultation is to be launched on closure to small-scale renewables at some time before the end of March. “The NIRO will remain open, for the time being, at least until the further consultation is completed,” Stewart said.
The announcement has been largely welcomed by the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU). “We are, however, disappointed it has taken until now, a few weeks before the dissolution of the Assembly, to act,” said UFU deputy president Barclay Bell.
He said that the UFU would push for an extended investment-freeze grace period for developing projects that slowed up to due problems with funding. “This would mean that these projects could connect until March 2019,” he said.
Concern
Stewart pointed out to MLAs that an area of concern was that proposals in the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) Energy Bill was that only renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) from NI wind projects could be traded to energy suppliers in Britain if the projects met the eligibility criteria on 30 September 2015.
This has raised concerns among some in the NI renewable industry that energy suppliers in Britain may choose not to buy ROCs from NI from any scale or type of technology, meaning a very limited market for ROCs in NI, he warned.
The length of the period for responses and the exact opening date for the new consultation is not yet known. However, the matter of NIRO closure will be a decision for the next DETI minister after the Assembly elections in May.
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The announcement last Friday by Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) Minister Jonathan Bell that a separate consultation for the closure of the Northern Ireland Renewable Obligation (NIRO) for small-scale wind projects is to be launched has been welcomed by many in the renewable industry.
A DETI consultation, launched in October last year, proposed to close the NIRO to all onshore wind projects from 1 April 2016. A one-year grace period for projects that had planning permission, grid connection offers and proof of land ownership on 30 September 2015, with an additional one year allowed for projects that meet unforeseen grid connection or radar delays, was included.
Speaking to the enterprise, trade and investment committee this week, DETI’s Chris Stewart said: “The minister has decided not to proceed in the way set out in the consultation, but to adopt a different two-stage approach to closure, separating large- and small-scale.”
Separate closures
The NIRO will still close to large-scale wind projects, presumably over 250kW in size, on 1 April. However, a separate consultation is to be launched on closure to small-scale renewables at some time before the end of March. “The NIRO will remain open, for the time being, at least until the further consultation is completed,” Stewart said.
The announcement has been largely welcomed by the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU). “We are, however, disappointed it has taken until now, a few weeks before the dissolution of the Assembly, to act,” said UFU deputy president Barclay Bell.
He said that the UFU would push for an extended investment-freeze grace period for developing projects that slowed up to due problems with funding. “This would mean that these projects could connect until March 2019,” he said.
Concern
Stewart pointed out to MLAs that an area of concern was that proposals in the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) Energy Bill was that only renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) from NI wind projects could be traded to energy suppliers in Britain if the projects met the eligibility criteria on 30 September 2015.
This has raised concerns among some in the NI renewable industry that energy suppliers in Britain may choose not to buy ROCs from NI from any scale or type of technology, meaning a very limited market for ROCs in NI, he warned.
The length of the period for responses and the exact opening date for the new consultation is not yet known. However, the matter of NIRO closure will be a decision for the next DETI minister after the Assembly elections in May.
Read more
October deadline for solar PV in NI
Continued frustration over NIRO closure
Intensive lobbying against closure of NIRO
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