Last week, South Kerry Development Partnership representative Seán de Buitléar met with Irish Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien in Dublin to discuss legislative and practical barriers that continue to affect the development of community-led renewable energy projects in Ireland.
Seán, who is also a founding member of the Community Energy Federation of Ireland (CEFoI), attended the meeting together with Suzanne Young of CEFoI.
The discussion focused on several ongoing challenges facing Irish communities that are working to develop renewable energy projects, including grid access, administrative complexity linked to the DSO, the temporary withdrawal of enabling grant support for review, and issues connected to offers under the SRESS programme.
Drawing on their direct experience of developing projects and supporting communities through the process, the group outlined both the barriers communities currently face and a number of practical solutions that could help move projects forward more effectively.
Among the proposals discussed was the appointment of a dedicated contact person within the DSO to support Community Energy projects. Additional suggestions focused on improving the SRESS programme by allowing projects to progress through multiple development stages simultaneously, rather than requiring each step to be completed before the next can begin.
Seán welcomed the positive response from Minister O’Brien, noting that the Minister reaffirmed his support for the development of Ireland’s community energy sector and acknowledged that current procedures still need to become more efficient and accessible for communities.
Minister O’Brien confirmed that the issues raised would be examined both within his Department and with the DSO in order to identify workable solutions. He also committed to reinstating the enabling grant support once the current review process has been completed and recommendations have been implemented, ensuring that communities continue to have access to financial support for renewable energy initiatives.
The Minister additionally expressed his willingness to meet again with representatives of the sector once the review process has concluded, to continue discussions on how best to support community-led renewable energy development in Ireland.