Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
210. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will publish an updated year-by-year trajectory to 2030 for renewable electricity generation, by onshore wind, offshore wind and solar PV capacity; the contingency measures he will introduce to stay on track to meet the 80% renewable electricity target; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72382/25]
View answerThis Question was answered under Dáil Question number 287 of 11 December 2025 and the position remains the same.
The Programme for Government 2025 has reaffirmed Ireland’s targets of 80% of electricity demand to be met by renewable energy sources. Achieving this target not only depends on additional renewable electricity generation but also on deployment of electricity storage which plays a critical role in enabling higher levels of variable wind and solar on the system, supporting flexibility.
The updated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) sets out the policies to be implemented to achieve our energy and climate targets and contains year-by-year trajectory to 2030 for each renewable electricity generation. The updated NECP is available on the following link: assets.gov.ie/static/documents/irelands-integrated-national-energy-and-climate-plan-2021-2030.pdf
Two cross-Government taskforces, the Accelerating Renewable Electricity Taskforce (ARET) for onshore renewables and the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce (OWDT), continue to develop effective policies designed to deliver an accelerated and increased level of renewable generation capacity and related infrastructure, including strengthening the electricity grid and increasing electricity storage.
Ireland has a number of support schemes in place to increase the development of renewable electricity. The Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) is pivotal to the achievement of Ireland’s 2030 target. RESS consists of a series of competitive auctions, five onshore and two offshore to date, in which successful applicants are offered a two-way support arrangement for a period of approximately 15 years. The Programme for Government committed that RESS auctions will take place annually, which provide a consistent pathway for the continued deployment of renewable electricity.
The revised National Planning Framework includes regional renewable electricity capacity allocations. The inclusion of the allocations will facilitate the accelerated roll-out and delivery of onshore wind and solar development.
Government remains committed to the development of 5 GW of offshore wind capacity with projects in construction by 2030 and energised as soon as feasible thereafter.
