Smart Energy Conference 2022 to discuss challenges for Northern Ireland’s energy transition targets

Taking place on October 6 at the Clayton Hotel in Belfast, the annual event will bring together around 100 participants from across Northern Ireland and some European companies with offices in Northern Ireland to engage with the policy makers and industry experts.

The conference is the first energy event of this scale following the publication of Northern Ireland’s new energy strategy – The Path to Net Zero and the Climate Bill, which set the new commitment to reach 80% renewable electricity by 2030, including the plan to generate 65% of NI’s electricity by onshore wind turbines.

"At the Smart Energy 2021 event we discussed what might be in the new Energy Strategy and what we hoped it would include,” said Steven Agnew, Head of RenewableNI, adding: “A year on and we have seen the publication of the Strategy and the 2022 Action Plan, followed by the Climate Bill.”

While welcoming the new commitment, Mr Agnew sees its implementation as “very challenging” which can only be possible through close collaboration between the government and the industry.

For this to happen, the very first prerequisite would be to have a new Executive established “to begin the delivery of the energy transition”, he explained, referring to the continued failure to form the nation’s devolved government.

At the Smart Energy Conference, RenewableNI plans to highlight the key role that the planning system will play in enabling a green economic recovery. The current system, according to Mr Agnew, is “dysfunctional, under-resourced and blocking new renewable development”.

"Wind farms are spending more than twice as long in planning here than in Great Britain. This is a considerable disincentive to investors who are operating across these islands and globally,” he said.

The point is that so far it has typically taken three to five years to get a wind farm through the planning system.

"If Northern Ireland wants to meet its new targets, this can’t continue and that will be our key message,” Mr Agnew added.

"We will have a chief planner speaking at the event, and he will listen to our panels and members to hear what the concerns in the industry are. And what we hope he will take away is the absolute need for the planning system - the absolute requirement - to act with greater speed and make decisions much more quickly,” he told NI World.

RenewableNI unites businesses in Northern Ireland’s renewable sector to provide the forum for policy discussions and foster cooperation among stakeholders. As a collaboration between Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) and RenewableUK (RUK), the organisation works closely with trade bodies on issues impacting the renewable electricity industry across the UK and Ireland.

RenewableNI’s current position in terms of renewable targets and decarbonisation is that “if business as usual continues' Northern Ireland will fail to meet the renewable electricity and carbon reduction objectives.

According to the official figures, out of Northern Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions, energy accounts for approximately 60%.

The nation’s 22-point Action Plan for the Path to Net Zero Energy was announced in January this year following the publication of Northern Ireland's new Energy Strategy in December of 2021. These documents have outlined a roadmap of how to achieve a 56% reduction in energy-related emissions by 2030, also presenting a pathway for net zero carbon output by 2050 and affordable energy.

Those efforts were finally enshrined in law in March, when the Northern Ireland Assembly passed the Climate Change Bill committing to net-zero carbon output by 2050, bringing an end to the legislative vacuum for Northern Ireland which previously had been the only part of the UK without specific legislative commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Bill states that at least 80% of electricity consumption must be through renewable sources by 2030. According to RenewableNI, reaching this target will cut carbon emissions by 75% – from 2.8 million tonnes to 0.7 million annually.

Steven Agnew explained that in addition to the need for speeding up the planning stage, another big challenge in terms of achieving the target is to get more investment in the grid because there is “no point” in investing in new renewable projects, unless they can be connected to deliver the electricity to consumers.

He added: “Before we got this new target in place, there was little policy reason to invest in the grid. Thankfully, that has changed now. We do need the investment that follows to make sure that we can get the electricity from the generators to the consumers.”

Whether there is sufficient number of projects to lead to the goal, he said there “are enough” in the pipeline. However, the problem is about the policy: “Can we get through all those projects through the planning system – consented, connected and generated in time for 2030? The target is achievable but again, we need urgency from the government.”

Mr Agnew said: “We have seen with the Covid that the government can act with speed in emergency situations. We now need a Covid-type response with the climate because it is a climate emergency. Politicians are using this language but, unfortunately, we do not see the urgency you would expect in an emergency situation.”

Smart Energy Conference is a collaboration with Carson McDowell, Northern Ireland’s one of the largest independent law firms with experience in the energy and renewables sector. Having advised clients on the entire lifecycle of projects from planning approval to site acquisition, construction, financing, operation, maintenance and their refinancing or sale, their experts have engaged with funders and acquirers on some of the most complex and high-profile energy deals in NI.

Confident in Northern Ireland’s vast clean energy potential, Mr Agnew said: “We have got fantastic wind speeds, - we can complain about the weather here but in terms of renewable generation it is in our favour. And we have the 80 percent target, which gives the confidence that the government is committed to supporting the development. So, it’s a good place to invest.”

Apart from being green and environmentally harmless, renewable energy means better protection against energy price spikes.

"Locally produced energy will give us energy security as a country and price stability for consumers. To stop volatility and get consumers more certain about the price we need to invest and deliver on renewables,” said Mr Agnew.

For more information on the Smart Energy Conference 2022 go to renewableni.com/smartenergy