Any changes to payments for exporting solar electricity back to the grid will have to be made by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU).

And, at present, there are no plans to do that.

That is according to ESB design manager Colin Feely, who spoke during the renewable-energy session at this year’s National Ploughing Championships on the Irish Farmers Journal stand.

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The panel discussion heard there had been growing speculation that the Clean Export Guarantee – which allows people to be paid by their electricity supplier for surplus electricity they export to the grid from renewable systems such as the solar panels – was going to be stopped.

No announcements

However, Feely refuted this suggestion, intervening from the audience to stress that there had been no official announcement from ESB to support those concerns.

“Just to clarify, to settle concerns, there has been nothing official put out from ESB on that,” he said.

“Any guidance on that will be given from the regulator to the ESB. They were speculative articles, and there’s a bit of social media as well in the last couple of days.”

He added that, as things currently stand, the existing arrangements will continue.

The clarification is significant for farmers calculating the economics of a solar investment, although maximising the amount of electricity consumed on-farm rather than exported, remains an important consideration when sizing a system.

For a full report of the panel session, pick up a copy of the Irish Farmers Journal this week.