On 4 February 2019, the Minister of Communications, Climate
Action and Environment refused a request from the Irish Wind Energy
Agency (“IWEA”) to grant an extension
to REFIT 2 deadlines.
Background
The Irish Government has since 2009 supported the development of
renewable electricity in Ireland through the Renewable Energy
Feed-In Tariff (“REFIT”). The
various REFIT schemes (REFIT 1, REFIT 2 and REFIT 3) have provided
certainty to Irish renewable energy projects by effectively
guaranteeing a minimum ‘floor price’ for a 15 year
period.
REFIT 2 was introduced to help onshore wind, hydro and biomass
landfill gas technologies contribute to Ireland’s 2020 energy
targets.
REFIT 2 has been closed for applications since 31 December
2015. Projects that applied before that date and which want
to avail of REFIT 2 support must meet certain deadlines – in
particular, they must be connected to the grid by 31 March
2020. IWEA proposed a grace period to extend this
