The Irish government is to introduce a €120 per megawatt-hour cap on renewables generators to address what it says are “windfall gains” being made in the energy sector.
Energy Minister Eamon Ryan the “excess” revenue will be collected from December to June next year and will be redeployed to support consumers.
The €120/MWh cap for wind and solar “takes into account the revenues generators would have expected to earn prior to the increase in gas prices, which was less than €100/MWh”, energy department DECC said.
The government said renewables players have also seen a “limited increase in costs”.
“It should also be noted that where electricity suppliers can demonstrate that revenues in excess of the cap are being passed on through lower prices to final consumers, those revenues will not be subject to the cap.”
Ryan said: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to unprecedented increases in wholesale natural gas prices, impacting the prices paid by consumers, but also leading to windfall gains in some areas of the energy sector.
The agreement of the Council Regulation and the Government’s approval on its implementation will ensure that windfall gains will be collected and redistributed to support energy consumers.”