Debate contribution: British-Irish Council: Energy

Debate contribution by Dr Caoimhe Archibald on 2 March 2026.

MLA

Dr Caoimhe Archibald

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

2 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statement

Heading

British-Irish Council: Energy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5432540

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

In accordance with section 52 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, I wish to make a statement on the British-Irish Council (BIC) ministerial meeting in energy work sector format, which was held on Thursday 12 February. The British Government in London hosted the meeting, which was jointly chaired by the British and Scottish Governments as co-chairs of the energy work sector. I attended the meeting, virtually, along with Minister Lyons who attended as the accompanying Minister. The meeting brought together Ministers with responsibility for energy policy to consider how the eight member Administrations can continue to work together to address shared challenges. Ministers discussed and reviewed the 'BIC Energy Work Sector 2022-2025' policy report and the work sector's activities across the period. We also reviewed and endorsed a new work plan. The 'Energy Work Sector 2022-2025' policy report paper reports on activities since the previous meeting in February 2022. The themes are decarbonising heat; offshore renewables, including wind, marine, grid and interconnection; new and emerging technologies, including hydrogen and carbon capture in storage; and local and community energy. The policy report paper also demonstrates the real value of the work sector in sharing learning, identifying challenges early and building momentum together across these islands. I take this opportunity to commend the extensive work that has taken place across the four themes over the past three years. I was also pleased to see the report highlight the GeoEnergy project — a flagship geothermal demonstrator that we launched in 2023. That project is exploring the potential of the natural heat beneath our feet — work that should lead to heating homes, public buildings and businesses using clean, indigenous heat. I was especially encouraged that we hosted the energy work sector meeting in February 2024. Officials from the other member Administrations visited the Titanic Quarter in Belfast and had an opportunity to experience a commute on a Translink hydrogen bus and to visit CATAGEN and Artemis, which showcased the development and implementation of world-leading innovation in net zero technologies. Those companies represent the ambition of our region and the economic opportunity of the net zero transition. Ministers also discussed and agreed the themes of the next forward work plan. I welcome and endorse that draft forward work plan and fully support its direction. The priority areas identified — public acceptance; just transition; supply chains and skills; and peer review — certainly align closely with the challenges that face our Administration. It is a practical, focused plan that recognises that accelerating decarbonisation requires not only technology and investment but public confidence, consumer buy-in, skilled people and strong supply chains. I am particularly pleased that we will lead the theme of public acceptance. Our energy strategy places people at the heart of the transition. Public support cannot be taken for granted. People must be able to understand and experience the benefits of new energy technologies and systems in their everyday lives: stable energy prices, warmer homes, cleaner air and good jobs in their communities. They must have the opportunity to form citizen energy communities where local energy generation and consumption contributes to renewable energy sources and reduces our reliance on fossil fuels, while increasing social and community engagement and delivering local economic benefits. Ownership of clean, affordable, renewable energy is essential to reducing energy poverty, and those energy communities play a crucial role in the energy transition, as they help to create a sustainable and just energy future for us all. In leading that theme, we will collaborate with other Administrations to share experiences and learn collectively from our challenges and successes. I commend the statement to the Assembly.

I thank the Member for her question. She is quite right: the past 48 hours have, again, demonstrated how our reliance on fossil fuels impacts on people's pockets. Therefore, it is important that we continue the work to transition away from fossil fuels and ensure that there is a genuine just transition in that regard. The linking of the two schemes is work in progress between the British Government and the EU. We are being kept updated on that, and officials are engaged in understanding what that will mean, including any cost impacts, although we do not believe that there will be any. It will be a positive initiative and will be very welcome, but, as I say, it is work in progress.

I thank the Member for her question. The next step is for me to write formally to the Speaker to outline my intention to put the petroleum exploration and licensing (repeal) Bill before the Assembly on 24 March. It is my intention that that Bill will pass into law during the current mandate. The Bill will introduce a permanent ban on issuing licences for all forms of onshore petroleum exploration and production, including fracking. The Bill is an important step in supporting our decarbonisation journey, and it aligns with the Climate Change Act's emission reduction targets, the policy direction set in the energy strategy and the conclusions of independent research. Exploration for oil and gas would run contrary to those commitments and is unlikely to bring meaningful benefits to the local economy or consumers. Therefore, it is the right thing for us to do.

I thank the Member for her question, and I wish her luck on the Economy Committee. I look forward to working with her. The themes that have been set out in the next programme of work are ones that are really tangible to people and communities and are about ensuring that people understand and feel the benefits. When it comes to public acceptance, that is a particular theme that we will be leading on, because it is crucial that people understand what the transition will mean and how it can benefit them. There are also other issues around skills and supply chains that are, again, very tangible in ensuring that we are prepared for the transition and are able to take the full opportunities that are presented to us. That means that we have to have skills programmes in place, and it means that we need supply chains that will support the renewables sector more generally to deliver. That is really important work. It is also really important for tackling fuel poverty, and Minister Lyons attended the meeting with me. It was particularly pertinent for him to have attended, given his role in retrofitting and in other initiatives that the Department for Communities leads on. There is a lot of cross-departmental work under all those themes that we can certainly pursue together.

I thank the Member for his question. As a member of the Economy Committee, he will know that we published the review of the energy strategy just before Christmas. It was a timely opportunity to look at the progress that has been made and at the areas where there are still challenges and opportunities to be grasped to meet those targets. He will also know that a number of significant areas of policy development are progressing. A number of consultations that have concluded recently will contribute to the work to meet our targets. That is all really important. It is all set within the framework of the energy strategy, which guides us in the targets that we have set ourselves to align with the Climate Change Act. Working along those lines will help us to deliver against those targets. We are taking the approach of looking at the various areas and ensuring that we meet the milestones that have been set. The Member will be aware of the number of areas of work that we would really like to see progress on before the end of the mandate. That will be challenging, but I believe that we can do it.

I thank the Member for that question. Biomethane has been discussed, not just in that forum but in other forums where we have cross-jurisdictional input in relation to energy. We have really good on-the-ground examples of it already happening. The work in the Department, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, is progressing and has had a new focus placed upon it. I had the opportunity to meet some businesses that are pursuing that work and are keen to see it benefiting local communities, including those in Fermanagh. The Department is putting considerable focus on that, in collaboration with DAERA, and we hope to see good progress on it in the coming months.

I thank the Member for his question. Since the publication of my decision, the Utility Regulator has been progressing the necessary licence modifications for NIE Networks and undertaken the regulatory scrutiny of the detailed charging arrangements. Subject to the completion of that regulatory process, NIE Networks is expected to publish a new statement of connection charges before the end of June 2026, enabling the new fairer connection charging arrangements to then take effect for customers.

I thank the Member for his question. The North/South interconnector is important for our security of supply. We need to see that progressed in lines with the terms under which it was approved.

I thank the Member for his question. I will be meeting Wrightbus in the near future, and I look forward to hearing about its plans. As the Member will be aware, there are plans in the growth deal for a hydrogen hub, which is really welcome. There are considerable opportunities, and Wrightbus is one example. There are others, such as CATAGEN, that are doing really important work that we will be able to show the benefits of. We can show how we are a leader in this technology. Along with Invest NI and others, my Department is working to support that. I am also happy to continue to work with the Member in relation to his constituency interests.

I thank the Member for his question. My officials have been working with Ministers in Britain to understand the priorities that GB Energy has now agreed. In particular, it has placed a focus on local power plans and community-led projects. I want us to lean into that in order to make sure that communities here are able to access the supports that are available from GB Energy and the funding that will flow from them. My officials are engaging on that, and I have asked them to put a new focus on it so that we can make sure that we gain from any arrangements that are being put in place.

I thank the Member for her question. That is one of the themes of the new work plan. We all recognise that if we are to harness the benefits of the transition to net zero, we will need people with skills. The Department published the green skills action plan a number of months ago, which sets out how we plan to ensure that we have the people and the pipeline of skills coming through across the different disciplines that are going to be required. Having that as one of the themes in the work plan across all eight jurisdictions means that we can learn from work that others are doing, and they can do likewise. It also means that, where challenges are presented, we will have the opportunity to look at what others are doing and learn from that. I am really pleased that that is one of the themes. We need to continue to focus on that and make sure that we continue to engage with industry in order to understand its needs. That was one of the aspects of the green skills action plan that I was particularly pleased about, because it was genuinely industry-led and responded to the industry's needs. We need to keep that under review and iteratively update our action plans in order to ensure that they continue to be relevant.

1,980 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:57 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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