renewable energy magazine
Delivering an Energy Strategy Ahead of the publication of Northern Ireland’s Energy Strategy later in 2021, David Whelan speaks to the Department for the Economy’s (DfE) Director for Energy Strategy, Thomas Byrne. In July 2021, the window for response to the policy options consultation paper for the new Energy Strategy closed, bringing Northern Ireland one step closer to a new vision for energy in the wider context of global decarbonisation. The Strategy and, potentially more critically, its associated action plan, have been scheduled for publication before the end of the year, with the Department currently working through the range of responses it received during the consultation. Byrne, who has led the development of the Strategy and various stakeholder and consumer outreach initiatives in recent years, is pleased with the levels of engagement, highlighting the almost 8,000 views recorded on the consultation page, as well as nearly 4,000 downloads of the document and 282 responses, over a three-month period. Tellingly, given the emphasis that Byrne and his team have placed on ensuring the consultation captured as broad a
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base as possible, around 50 per cent of responses came directly from domestic and business consumers. With the Department now working through those responses to inform the Strategy and its relevant policies, Byrne is confident that its delivery and that of the associated action plan remains on track, despite the impact of the pandemic. In fact, the Director believes that the past two years of the pandemic has placed a greater onus on the importance of the Strategy, as well as increasing interest in it. “The Strategy has always been an important piece of policy, but I believe its reach across society is broader now than ever before,” he says. “Firstly, because the awareness of the impact of climate change and the need to take action is higher. The Strategy covers around two-thirds of emissions here in Northern Ireland and I think that puts a lot of strategic focus on what we are doing.
“Secondly, the impact of the pandemic means that we are trying to rebuild an economy that can be sustainable for the long-term. One of our guiding principles is for the growth of a green economy, the success of which will be founded on our net-zero ambitions.” Byrne points out that ambitions for green growth features in a breadth of fresh government policies, ranging from the draft Programme for Government outcomes through to DfE’s 10X economic vision and Economic Recovery Action Plan; areas where energy policy may not have traditionally featured but is now playing a central role.
Action plan Outlining what is set to be unveiled, Byrne describes the Strategy as a “high-level strategic look at the direction of travel, focused on the period up to 2030, as part of the longer journey to 2050”. However, he is also aware of stakeholder demand for delivery and to this end, he points to
