A leading solicitor at Belfast firm Carson McDowell has said that the Northern Ireland renewables sector is at risk of stalling due to various government policy choices.

Neasa Quigley, head of the energy team at Carson McDowell, issued the stark warning ahead of the Northern Ireland Renewables Industry Group’s (NIRIG) 6th Policy Workshop, entitled “Future Opportunities for Renewables in NI”.

The law firm is sponsoring the policy event, which brings together top industry figures, policy-makers and commentators.

Ms Quigley said: “There have been huge strides made by our renewables industry in recent years and we are delighted to have assisted a number of clients working in this sector.

“However, obstacles outside of developers’ control are now putting the industry on hold at a time when it should be pushing forward.”

She identified the two biggest challenges as Northern Ireland Electricity’s moratorium on new grid connections for renewable projects and uncertainty over a replacement scheme for the now-axed Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs).

NIE announced in November that it would not consider approving new applications for connections to the electricity grid until May 2016.

ROCs, a support mechanism for renewable electricity projects, will close to new generation from 1 April 2016 with grace periods available until 2018 for projects meeting certain criteria.

Ms Quigley added: “The Northern Ireland government has set clear goals about the amount of electricity it wants to generate from renewable sources by 2020. NIE has said it cannot meet the current demand for capacity for network connections from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources but if it can’t accept these applications, then those targets simply won’t be met.

“The other main issue is the uncertainty over what will replace ROCs. It was hoped that our devolved assembly might be willing to go its own way on this but we now seem to simply be following the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change policy without any clarity on whether Northern Ireland will participate in the Contracts for Difference scheme available to GB developers, let alone compete for contracts in a meaningful way.”