Over 250,000 homes are to be powered by "green energy" following government approval for the construction of a new energy-generating plant.
Announcing the result of the fifth Alternative Energy Requirement (AER V) competition, Mr Joe Jacob TD, Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise, said €400 million would be earmarked for the development of wind, hydro and biomass technologies.
This latest investment, assisted by the Government, will double the amount of electricity generated from renewable energy sources.
The new plant is predicted to:
- Prevent more than 15 million tonnes of polluting greenhouse gas emissions
- Contribute emissions reductions equivalent to 10 per cent of our Kyoto commitment
- Reduce our heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels by more than 2,000,000 barrels of oil annually
- Redirect over €40 million previously spent on imported fuel back into the Irish economy
- Generate 1,000 jobs in building and installation work over the two year build period
"AER V is the largest-ever offered to the market and has been substantially oversubscribed," Mr Jacob said.
"I had sought a total of 255 megawatts (MW) of electricity-generating plant using renewable sources but in fact a total of almost 370 MW was tendered for wind, small-scale hydro and biomass technologies".
The new plant will reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the generation of electricity from fossil fuel and also Ireland’s obligation under a recent European Commission Directive to have 13 per cent of our energy requirements derived from renewable sources.