| "A significant number of farmers
and forestry owners will benefit from the introduction
shortly of a new Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (REFIT) to
encourage the generation of electricity from biomass sources",
the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food
and the Marine, Shane McEntee TD, said.
Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte has received
notification of approval from the European Commission
and he will seek approval from the Government within a few
of weeks to formally open the scheme.
The REFIT 3 scheme will provide a guaranteed price for fifteen
years of between 8.5 cent and 15 cent per kilowatt hour for
electricity generated from renewable energy sources and exported
into the national grid.
Welcoming this development, Minister McEntee said - "I have
talked to quite a number of farmers throughout the country
who have been waiting on the introduction of a new REFIT scheme
before getting into electricity generation from renewable
sources.
"Since I took up my job as Minister of State I have
been pushing hard for this. The scheme will allow farmers
to generate a new income stream or to cut their costs through
building Combined Heat and Power plants or anaerobic digestion
units, for example, in dairy enterprises.
"It will also increase the demand and therefore the
price of wood thinnings for farmers who are involved in forestry
and will give a boost to the production of energy crops, for
which the good quality land in Meath is very suitable."
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