Introduction
It gives me great pleasure to be with you this morning and to have the opportunity to speak on so important an issue to me as energy efficiency and job creation. I’m particularly delighted to welcome Alex Attwood, Minister for the Environment in the Northern Ireland Executive to Dundalk.
Energy efficiency is an area of increasing investment and innovation in Ireland, providing the foundation for the best use of our energy supply, creating new opportunities for our country, and ultimately contributing to economic growth through new jobs and investment.
Using energy more efficiently will also contribute towards meeting the target of 20% energy efficiency savings across the European Union by 2020. All Member States will be challenged by this target and the measures necessary to achieve this level of ambition.
North-South cooperation is clearly in the best interests of both parts of the island. Business acknowledges this. To be globally competitive, we must exploit the opportunities of economic collaboration.
EU Policy
Energy efficiency is at the core of recent policy from the European Commission. The EU has set the foundations for the transformation of energy policy across the Union with the publication of the draft Energy Efficiency Directive in June. We look forward to continued progress being made on this important dossier under the stewardship of the Polish presidency.
As most of you will know, the proposal sets binding measures rather than targets for Member States. It calls for the rate of building renovation to be increased, energy audits to become mandatory for large industry and the installation of smart meters for consumers to provide them with real time information on their energy consumption.
Energy policy is now centre stage, not just in Ireland but in Europe and globally. We owe it to the next generation to be more challenging and farsighted in our energy management strategy. No country on its own can achieve a solution on the issues of energy security and climate change. We must work together in Europe in the interests of consumers and business on this island.
The development of the All-island Energy Market provides a practical example of this. We have a compelling shared interest in more competitive and sustainable energy markets. A regional approach makes sense and underpins our security of supply.
National Policy
Ireland’s Energy Policy Framework sets a national goal of 20% energy efficiency across all sectors of the economy by 2020. To demonstrate a leadership role, a 33% target was identified for the public sector. The 2009 National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) built on the Energy White Paper and re-affirmed our commitment to meeting these targets.
I will be publishing a new National Energy Efficiency Action Plan within the next couple of months. This will set out the concrete measures which we will take to deliver on our targets in line with the Commission’s ambition.
To put this target in perspective, the national 20% energy saving target is equivalent to 32,000GWh (gigawatt hours) saved by 2020. The actions outlined in our second NEEAP are projected to realise 33,500GWh of energy savings in 2020, which represents a slight overachievement on our target. While these projections are encouraging, achievement of our 2020 goals requires sustained commitment to implementing measures across all sectors. It will also require the Better Energy programme to attract consumers and businesses to invest in energy saving measures, so complacency is not an option.
Better Energy
Better Energy is a major step forward as it brings all energy companies in as partners. All sellers of energy over a minimum size will be involved: from energy suppliers to oil companies and solid fuel suppliers. These companies have been given targets to deliver energy efficiency upgrades, the size of their target being linked to their share of the market. The priority is to ensure that energy saving agreements with energy suppliers are finalised quickly.
Not only does this programme have considerable positive societal and environmental benefits, but it is also labour intensive and greatly contributes to labour retention and activation. Over 5,800 jobs will be supported from the funding made available this year alone.
However, we need to be more ambitious to drive the market growth and energy savings our economy needs today. The proposed Energy Efficiency Directive signals a target for energy suppliers of 1.5% savings per annum and Better Energy is a necessary first step towards achieving the kind of savings we need in the long term.
Industry/Public Sector
In terms of the global context for energy, we have seen oil prices fluctuate dramatically in recent weeks. This weakens our economic outlook, and we need to innovate to ensure that we are protected to the best of our ability. My Department is working with the SEAI to make Ireland an attractive test-bed for new technologies, building upon our progress in the green tech and energy sectors.
Energy efficiency represents in so many ways a business and employment opportunity. Over 60 % of the identified savings potential for Ireland is set to come from energy efficiency actions in the buildings sector, both new build and retrofit. This presents both opportunities – and challenges, particularly in the skills area – for the building services profession, for architects and for the specialist trades operating in the sector.
Better Energy: Workplaces will provide €11.5 million in funding for projects in the public and private sectors this year. Through the experience we hope to gain from this programme we can turn our businesses into the model of 21st century sustainable entrepreneurship.
To me, this is a perfect example of how private innovation and public leadership can work together to use Exchequer funding more effectively, and at the same time better care for our environment. In times like these we need to work together to spend prudently to ensure that every euro spent has the maximum impact across the economy. This requires looking into every area of government and business, including public spending, and asking: Is it possible to get better results for less money? Improving public sector energy efficiency can result in savings that are real and significant.
Conclusion
Despite the many environmental challenges we face as we all seek to reduce our carbon footprint and to adopt more sustainable ways of living and working, it is essential that we realise that these challenges can open doors to new business opportunities for companies in Ireland.
There is great potential within every home and business to achieve significant financial savings through energy efficiency measures. Every euro spent by homeowners and businesses, not only brings about long term energy savings, but also helps support jobs and indigenous companies.
The success of the Single Electricity Market underlines the shared energy challenges and opportunities for the island of Ireland. Building on continued North-South cooperation on energy matters to our mutual benefit will be progressed over the coming years in areas such as Common Arrangements for Gas (which will be in place next year), security of supply and involvement in EU Regional Initiatives.
This will support progress towards integrated energy markets on these islands in the context of the EU internal energy market and overall EU energy policy objectives. As our colleagues from Northern Ireland will undoubtedly agree, it is essential that there is a collaborative effort in working towards the overriding objectives of energy policy - security of supply, competitiveness and sustainability.
These pillars of energy policy provide the foundation for the best use of our energy supply, creating new opportunities for our country, ultimately contributing to economic growth through new jobs and investment.
ENDS