THE NORTHERN IRELAND RENEWABLES OBLIGATION

The Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation (NIRO) is the main support mechanism for encouraging increased renewable electricity generation in Northern Ireland.  It operates in tandem with the Renewables Obligations in Great Britain – the ‘ROS’ in Scotland and the ‘RO’ in England & Wales – in a UK-wide market for Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) issued to generators under the Obligations.

The NIRO, like the Obligations in Great Britain, obliges electricity suppliers to produce a certain number of these ROCs for each Megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity which they supply to their customers in Northern Ireland or to pay a Buy-Out fee that is proportionate to any shortfall in the number of ROCs being so presented.

NIRO – An outline of its operation

The Renewables Obligation places a legal requirement on all Northern Ireland licensed electricity suppliers, from 1 April2005, to provide Ofgem (on behalf of the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (NIAUR)) with evidence that a specified quantity of the electricity supplied to final consumers can be accounted for by generation from renewable sources.