Climate-Laggard Ireland Scrambles to Meet Renewable Energy Targets

(Bloomberg) -- Ireland laid out a new plan to reduce the country's carbon footprint, scrambling to achieve a goal of generating 70% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's government will set up an auction system allowing renewable electricity projects bid for capacity on the country's grid and receive a guaranteed price for their electricity. The first auction is set to take place in 2020, the environment ministry said on Monday in Dublin.

“Ireland is currently 86% reliant on fossil fuel,” Environment Minister Richard Bruton said in a statement. “We must radically reduce this dependence and make the transition to cleaner, more renewable energy.”

Ireland is the third-biggest producer of greenhouse gas emissions per head in the European Union, and faces “significant challenges” to hit its 2030 carbon reduction targets, the Environmental Protection Agency has said. As part of its plan, the government is reducing reliance on coal and peat to generate electricity, a move which has provoked opposition in districts affected by plant closures.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Flanagan in Dublin at pflanagan23@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Dara Doyle

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.