A number of “shortcomings” in the design of Northern Ireland’s Renewable Obligation scheme (NIRO) have been identified, allowing the rate of return to be in excess of 20% for some generators. Generators had been able to access higher levels of financial support for small-scale standalone wind turbines through the scheme than elsewhere in the UK between 2014 and 2016, helping to bring down the payback period to less than four years. This is one of a number of concerns about the scheme identified by the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) in a new report looking into onshore wind and anaerobic digestion (AD) as part of NIRO.
Current 13th Oct 2020 read more »