S.L. 623.7 Art. 2015S.L. 549. 61. S.L. 549. 68. S.L. 549. 68. S.L. 549. 78.

If an equivalent assessment has already been carried out, the Minister shall notify an equivalent assessment to the Commission.

(2) The comprehensive assessment shall take full account of the analysis of the national potentials for high-efficiency cogeneration carried out under Directive 2004/8/EC. The assessment shall be updated and notified to the Commission every five (5) years, subject to a request by the Commission at least one year before the due date.

(3) The Minister shall adopt policies which encourage that the potential of using efficient heating and cooling systems, in particular those using high efficiency cogeneration, is duly taken into account at local and regional levels. Account shall be taken of the potential for developing local and regional heat markets.

(4) For the purpose of the assessment referred to in sub-regulation (1), the Minister shall carry out a cost-benefit analysis covering the territory based on climate conditions, economic feasibility and technical suitability in accordance with the Eighth Schedule The cost-benefit analysis shall be capable of facilitating the identification of the most resource and cost-efficient solutions to meeting heating and cooling requirements. The cost-benefit analysis may be part of an environmental assessment, under the Strategic

Environmental Assessment Regulations for the assessment.

(5) Where the assessments referred to in sub-regulation (1) and the analysis mentioned in sub-regulation (4) identify a potential for the application of high-efficiency cogeneration and, or efficient district heating and cooling whose benefits exceed the costs, the Minister shall take adequate measures for efficient district heating and cooling infrastructure to be developed and, or to accommodate the development of high-efficiency cogeneration and the use of heating and cooling from waste heat and renewable energy sources in accordance with sub-regulations (1), (6) and (10). Where the assessment referred to in sub-regulation (1) and the analysis referred to in sub-regulation (4) do not identify a potential whose benefits exceed the costs, including the administrative costs of carrying out the cost-benefit analysis referred to in sub-regulation (6), installations shall be exempted from the requirements laid down in those sub-regulations.

(6) A cost-benefit analysis in accordance with the Ninth Schedule shall be carried out by the project promoter when, after the th 5 June 2014:

(a) a new thermal electricity generation installation with a total thermal input exceeding 20 MW is planned, to assess the cost and benefits of providing for the operation of the installation as high-efficiency cogeneration installation;

(b) an existing thermal electricity generation installation with a total thermal input exceeding 20 MW is substantially refurbished, to assess the cost and benefits of converting it to high efficiency cogeneration;

(c) an industrial installation with a total thermal input exceeding 20 MW generating waste heat at a useful temperature level is planned or substantially refurbished, to assess the cost and benefits of utilising the waste heat to satisfy economically justified demand, including through cogeneration, and of the connection of this installation to a district heating and cooling network;

(d) a new district heating and cooling network is planned or in an existing district heating or cooling network a new energy production installation with a total thermal input exceeding 20 MW is planned or an existing such installation is to be substantially refurbished, to assess the cost and benefits of utilising the waste heat from nearby industrial installations.

(7) The fitting of equipment to capture carbon dioxide produced by a combustion installation with a view to its being geologically stored as provided for in the Geological Storage of

Carbon Dioxide Regulations shall not be considered as refurbishment for the purpose of sub-regulation (6)(b), (c) and (d). The cost-benefit analysis referred to in sub-regulation (6)(c) and (d) shall be carried out in co-operation with the companies responsible for the operation of the district heating and cooling networks.

(8) The following installations shall be exempt from sub-regulation (6):

(a) those peak load and back-up electricity generating installations which are planned to operate under one thousand five hundred (1,500) operating hours per year as a rolling average over a period of five (5) years, based on a verification procedure established by the Regulator ensuring that this exemption criterion is met;

(b) nuclear power installations;

(c) installations that need to be located close to a geological storage site approved under the Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide Regulations.

(9) The Minister may also lay down thresholds, expressed in terms of the amount of available useful waste heat, the demand for heat or the distances between industrial installations and district heating networks, for exempting individual installations from the provisions of sub-regulation (6)(c) and (d).

The Minister shall notify to the Commission exemptions st adopted under this sub-regulation by the 31 of December 2013. Any subsequent changes to such exemptions thereafter shall also be notified by the Minister to the Commission.

(10) Authorisation criteria as referred to in Article 7 of Directive 2009/72/EC, or equivalent permit criteria, shall:

(a) take into account the outcome of the comprehensive assessments referred to in sub-regulation (1);

(b) ensure that the requirements of sub-regulation (6) are fulfilled; and

(c) take into account the outcome of cost-benefit analysis referred to in sub-regulation (6).

(11) The Regulator may exempt individual installations from being required, by the authorisation and permit criteria referred to in sub-regulation (10), to implement options whose benefits exceed their costs, if there are imperative reasons of law, ownership or finance for so doing. In these cases the Minister shall submit a motivated notification of his decision to the Commission within three (3) months of the date of the taking of the Minister’s decision.

(12) Sub-regulations (6), (8), (10) and (11) shall apply to installations covered by the Industrial Emissions (Large Combustion

Plants) Regulations without prejudice to the requirements of those regulations.

(13) On the basis of the harmonised efficiency reference values referred to in paragraph (f) of the Second Schedule, the Regulator shall ensure that the origin of electricity produced from high-efficiency cogeneration can be guaranteed according to objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria laid down by the Minister. The Regulator shall ensure that this guarantee of origin complies with the requirements and contains at least the information specified in the Tenth Schedule.

The Regulator shall mutually recognise guarantees of origin from other Member States, exclusively as proof of the information referred to in this sub-regulation. Any refusal to recognise a guarantee of origin as such proof, in particular for reasons relating to the prevention of fraud, must be based on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria. The Minister shall notify the Commission of such refusal and its justification.

(14) Any available support for cogeneration shall be subject to the electricity produced originating from high-efficiency cogeneration and the waste heat being effectively used to achieve primary energy savings. Public support to cogeneration and district heating generation and networks shall be subject to State aid rules, where applicable.