A new report by Baringa has revealed that achieving the 80 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 target will unlock an additional saving of £110 million per year.
Renewable Rewards: How you save from the switch to renewable electricity, commissioned by renewable energy body RenewableNI, examines the impact made since 2000 and forecasts the savings for 2030 if the target from the Climate Change Act is achieved.
Baringa found the key Renewable Rewards were:
- between 2020 and 2023 renewable electricity saved each consumer £160 off their bills;
- the transition to renewables has avoided more than 13 million tonnes of CO2, equal to taking 315,000 cars off the road today, a quarter of the total vehicles in NI;
- the displacement of gas – and coal-fired generation has avoided the need to burn £3.5 billion worth of fossil fuels since 2020.
RenewableNI Director Steven Agnew said: “There has been a lot of focus on the costs of the transition to renewable electricity without a proper assessment of the savings made by technologies which have zero fuel costs. Every wind turbine and every solar panel installed reduces consumer bills.
“Renewable Rewards makes it clear that since 2020 they have not just been having a positive environmental, but also financial, benefit for the people in Northern Ireland.
“The cost of delivering enough new projects to meet the Climate Act target is greatly outweighed by the rewards. Every individual and every business stands to benefit from the savings.
“It is disappointing therefore, that climate change was not included in the Executive’s nine priority areas for action in its draft Programme for Government. We need a whole government approach if the 80 per cent target is to be achieved.
“Renewable electricity means cleaner air, a home-grown secure energy supply and more money in consumers’ pockets. Without the right policy support this potential for investment and climate mitigation is squandered.”
Dr Mark Turner, Partner at Baringa and report author made clear the benefits behind the report figures:
“Noone is disputing that renewables will cost money to develop but our analysis shows this is outweighed by savings as the need to burn fossil fuels to generate power is reduced. As part of the Baringa analysis, we have been in contact with Northern Irish industry and consumer experts, providing them with visibility of our assumptions and methodology to help validate our findings. Our work examined the costs of renewable support schemes, dispatch balancing, network development and system services. Weighted against the big avoided cost of wholesale fossil fuel, the scale tips decisively to overall savings.
“For example, between 2021 and 2023, by displacing expensive gas-fired generation, wind and solar projects reduced annual power prices by up to 35 £/MWh, wiping a total of £655 million of wholesale cost from Northern Irish power bills.
“Our study shows that continued investment in renewables can save even more CO₂, with new-build renewables able to reduce power-sector emissions by another 2 million tonnes in 2030. It will also add to the financial rewards for consumers, saving an additional £110 million per year by 2030.”
The Renewable Rewards report launch was attended by developers, renewable electricity industry members, and representations from Department for the Economy, DAERA, SONI, NIE Networks and the Utility Regulator
A digital copy of Renewable Rewards: How you save from the switch to renewable electricity is available online for free. https://renewableni.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Renewable-Rewards-Baringa-Report-online.pdf