Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation: Closure of the scheme to onshore wind ≤5MW
Guidance,
Correspondence and other
- Publication date
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Legislation confirming the closure of the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation (NIRO) to small scale (i.e. less than or equal to 5MW) onshore wind from 1 July 2016 was made on 28 June 2016. This is our final published guidance explaining how we will administer this closure and the process for applying for the grace periods that will be available.
Our response document explains to stakeholders the changes that have been made to the final version of the guidance since the draft was published for consultation on 18 July 2016.
This guidance is for developers and operators of small (≤5MW) onshore wind generating stations in Northern Ireland who are affected by the closure of the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation (NIRO) scheme to small onshore wind, which commenced on 1 July 2016. It explains how we administer the early closure and the grace periods that are available.
The early closure of the scheme has been brought into effect by the Renewables Obligation Closure (No. 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016. The closure applies to new generating stations and any additional capacity added to existing stations. Operators of stations that meet certain specified conditions may be eligible for a grace period, meaning that they can apply for accreditation after the closure date.
This document was updated on 14 October 2016 to correct some typing errors.
This document was further updated on 10 March 2017 to remove the words “on or before the primary date” from the grid works agreement row of Table 2.
This document is for guidance only and is not a legal guide.
Please note that we are currently consulting on modifying Templates 2 and 3 of Appendix 3 of the guidance as published here. If you would like more information on this, or would like to give us your views on this, please see our consultation document. The consultation closes on Monday 12 June 2017.
This document was further updated on 20 December 2017 after consulting on amending the “Declaration of grid or radar delay condition” and the “Declaration of investment freezing condition” templates. The consultation response document is published here.