By Charles O'Donnell
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The government has been called on to improve grant support for micro-generation of renewable electricity amid the global energy crisis.
The Micro-Renewable Energy Federation (MREF) said the government should “immediately take practical action” to speed up adoption of micro-generation by homes, farms and businesses, with the war in the Middle East driving up electricity prices.
MREF chairperson Ciaran Kells called for the grant for solar PV installations to be increased up to 6 kilowatt-peak (kWp) of solar PV, or at least €2,400, for homes.
The measurement kWp refers the maximum wattage of electricity solar panels could produce in ideal sunlight conditions.
Kells also called for a grant of €200/kWp for up to 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh) – which measures wattage produced over time – of battery storage.
He said this would help homeowners use as much of their own renewable energy generation within the home as possible.
According to Kells, support for battery storage would “also be a very positive move in helping to balance demand on the grid as more and more renewables are connected”.
The MREF chairperson also called on the government to amend rules preventing owners of new homes and businesses who connected to the grid since 2021 from securing grants from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
“The denial of grant supports for new homeowners discriminates massively against young families, in particular, with limited resources who have bought their own homes in the last 5 years,” Kells said.
“At a minimum, all grid connections, domestic and commercial, up to the end of 2025, need to be able to apply and receive a grant for a micro generation installation,” he added.
Kells reiterated criticism of the move by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to reduce the funding available for solar PV installations through the ranking and selection process under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS).
He claimed the decision “brought a vibrant farmer market for installers to a stand still and has resulted in the loss of well paid, skilled jobs across rural Ireland”.
Kells called on the government to provide a “credible alternative” to the TAMS grants for solar PV.
According to the MREF chairperson, the improvements and enhanced funding he is calling for “would add no more” than €50 million per year to the cost of grant supports, and would have “multiple payback effects for the country” in accelerating the adoption of solar PV and battery storage.
“MREF members appreciate the supports that government has put in place for micro-generation over the past few years.
“Now is the time to update and improve the supports we have in place in responding to the threat and opportunity that soaring global energy costs have created,” Kells said.
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