N Ireland to close NIRO to small wind on Jun 30

The Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation (NIRO) scheme will close to new small-scale onshore wind on June 30, 2016, The Department for the Economy (DfE) announced on Monday following a consultation launched in March.

Grace periods are envisaged for eligible projects.

The department consulted on ending the subsidies for small-scale onshore wind projects after the NIRO closed to large-scale onshore wind on April 1, 2016. The consultation was against the backdrop of plans by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to take a "backstop power" to protect Great Britain (GB) consumers if the NIRO was not closed on equivalent terms to GB.

"Taking account of the likely impact of DECC’s ‘backstop’ power and the tenor of the majority of consultation responses, I intend to bring legislation to the Assembly to close the NIRO to new small scale onshore wind and existing small scale generating stations adding additional capacity before the end of June if Assembly timelines permit," said economy minister Simon Hamilton.

About 93% of respondents who indicated a preference backed the recommendation for a June 2016 closure.

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