Ireland to triple renewable energy output

The Irish government intends to triple renewable energy-generated electricity by 2010. Currently Ireland produces 5% of its electricity from renewable sources but by 2010 it hopes that figure will be 15%.
The government also intends to double the amount of energy produced by wind farms will double year-on-year from the end of 2006. The country hopes to have generated 736MW of electricity from wind farms by the end of 2006, compared to 496 MW generated in 2005.
Government figures show that demand for electricity in Ireland has grown by more than 40% in the past ten years, compared with an EU average of 10%.
“We are aiming to create a stable business environment for renewable energy projects,” explained the Minister for Communications, Marine & Natural Resources Noel Dempsey.
However earlier this year, Irish renewable energy company Airtricity left the residential power market citing regulatory and pricing pressures.