{"id":173505,"date":"2025-12-08T10:41:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/173505\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T10:41:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:41:15","slug":"renewable-energy-backwards-slide-in-generation-as-figures-show-dip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/173505\/","title":{"rendered":"Renewable energy:’ ‘Backwards slide’ in generation as figures show dip"},"content":{"rendered":"

Louise CullenAgriculture and environment correspondent, BBC News NI<\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

About 44% of electricity came from renewable sources, but this figure is down from the same period last year<\/p>\n

Renewable energy generation in Northern Ireland “is sliding backwards” an industry body has said, with the latest figures<\/a> confirming another decrease.<\/p>\n

In the 12 months to September 2025, 44.2% of electricity came from renewable sources, down 0.3% on the same time the previous year.<\/p>\n

This is the third consecutive year<\/a> that has shown a decline in renewable generation, since a peak of 51% in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The director of RenewableNI Mark Richardson said delays in policy and infrastructure reform were contributing to the ongoing decline.<\/p>\n

A final design for the Renewable Energy Price Guarantee (REPG)<\/a> scheme was launched earlier this year, but the terms and conditions have yet to come before the Northern Ireland Assembly.<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland has a target of generating 80% of electricity from renewable energy by 2030. <\/p>\n

While less renewable energy was generated in the year to September 2025, slightly more of it came from wind – about 82.2% compared to 81.9% in 2024. <\/p>\n

Wind supplies most of the renewable energy in Northern Ireland, with the remainder coming from biogas (6.5%) and biomass (5%), solar (4%), landfill gas (1.4%) and other (0.9%). <\/p>\n

2030 target<\/p>\n

Mr Richardson said there was \u201cgrowing concern\u201d across the sector. <\/p>\n

\u201cQuarterly figures will always shift slightly with changes in weather, but overall, the trend should be rising as we approach the Climate Act obligation of 80% renewable electricity by 2030,” he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, because we have no market support scheme in place, very few new projects are progressing, and generation is sliding backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RenewablesNIRenewablesNI<\/p>\n

Mark Richardson said action is needed<\/p>\n

Mr Richardson warned with 500 days left in the assembly mandate, the clock is ticking. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe renewable electricity sector is ready with enough projects in pre- and planning to meet future demand,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can prepare for de-carbonising heat and transport, but we cannot do it while market security and planning timelines need to be addressed to stop stagnating as RoI and GB power ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are the types of renewable energy? <\/p>\n

While wind and solar are familiar, the figures show the increasing role biogas and biomass are playing. <\/p>\n

Biomass is material like wood, straw and energy crops including willow, that can be burned to produce electricity, heat and power. <\/p>\n

Biogas comes from the fermentation of biomass in anaerobic digesters to produce . <\/p>\n

Landfill gas is primarily methane, produced by decomposition of organic waste. It can be captured and used to generate electricity. <\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

Wood pellets are used in biomass heating systems<\/p>\n

What is the REPG? <\/p>\n

The REPG was launched in September. <\/p>\n

It could lead to reduced bills by providing support for additional locally generated renewable energy. <\/p>\n

But its terms and conditions have not been published and a draft bill has yet to be laid before the Assembly. <\/p>\n

With the first auction to award generation contracts under the scheme expected in early 2027, Mr Richardson said that, without \u201curgent action\u201d, there is concern the timetable will slip. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe legislative timetable is tight, but all parties signed up to the target of 80% by 2030. <\/p>\n

“The same cross-party support can ensure the support scheme goes through at pace unlocking investment in Northern Ireland as well as a secure energy supply.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Louise CullenAgriculture and environment correspondent, BBC News NI Getty Images About 44% of electricity came from renewable sources,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-173505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}