Almost half of the country’s demand for energy is for heat, according to research fellow at the University of Ulster’s Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Patrick Keatley.
Speaking at an energy policy conference in Belfast, he pointed out that Northern Ireland has a target of 10 per cent renewable heat by 2020. This, he said, the country is “not going to achieve”.
“To have a real impact on emissions and a real impact on decarbonising our energy system, we need to have a stronger impact on heat,” he said. “There is policy incoherence within the Executive on this issue, and there has been a lack of joined-up thinking between different departments up until now. We have lacked a clear, consistent and coherent policy direction. That needs to be addressed.”
Keatley added that Northern Ireland was in a “unique position”, as it is part of the UK but not part of the GB electricity market.
“We’re in an all-island single electricity market, moving towards an integrated SEM, which ties in with the European target model. We are shortly to leave the EU and we will no longer be part of that target model,” he said. “But the direction of travel is clear. We need to decarbonise our energy system as a whole, including heat and transport, not just our electricity system.”
Also at the conference, speakers insisted that Brexit is just a “bump in the road” for the all-island integrated single electricity market in Ireland (I-SEM), and will not have any effect on the project in the long-term.
Chief technical advisor at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Bob Hanna, insisted the delay to the I-SEM “was not because of Brexit”.