Lengthy processing times for renewable energy project planning applications in Northern Ireland are placing ambitions to reach 80% renewable electricity capacities by 2030 in ‘jeopardy’, according to RenewableNI.
The comments were raised yesterday during the renewable trade body’s Energy Strategy seminar in Belfast and focused on the Energy Strategy 2023 Action Plan which was published by Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy (DfE) in March.
The conference was addressed by Zoe Crowe from the DfE and Niamh Collins from law firm A&L Goodbody, the event sponsors, and was attended by 70 representatives from the renewable electricity sector.
RenewableNI director Steven Agnew (pictured) said: “Our developers and investors are faced with a two to five year waiting time for their applications compared to 59 weeks in Ireland.
“We are now in a climate emergency and urge the planning authorities to properly resource the decision-making teams and processes to dramatically shorten times.
“We know the DfE is aware of the urgency of the matter. Now it is up to those other departments, and local councils, involved in planning to display a commitment to immediate action.”
Agnew added that there is increasing concern that red tape may ‘strangle’ Northern Ireland’s clean energy ambitions before they get a chance to generate one watt of electricity.
He added: “We have seen great progress at policy level in Northern Ireland and there is a real sense that government and particularly the DfE understands the urgency of achieving clean energy targets.
“But developers face increasingly strong headwinds as they seek permits to operate offshore and onshore wind energy plants.
“There was already a depressed market in Northern Ireland and investor confidence has been further hit thanks to the imposed windfall tax on low-carbon power generators, rampant cost inflation and increasing competition from abroad as the USA lures investors with subsidies through its new Inflation Reduction Act.
“But top of the list are the twin challenges of securing planning permissions and grid connections. It can take five years to gain consent for an offshore wind farm and that’s before being able to get near Northern Ireland’s grid.
“The Energy Strategy Action Plan can help us address some of these issues, but we need to see collaboration across government departments and agencies.”