Northern Ireland’s former first minister has denied responsibility for the province’s non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) even though she had departmental responsibility for the botched scheme. Delivering her hotly awaited evidence on day 54 of the public inquiry into the scheme, Arlene Foster said she had “done nothing wrong” with respect to the scheme, which resulted in an estimated overspend of £700 million for the installation of renewable heat devices. The scandal over the overpayments triggered the collapse of Northern Ireland’s power sharing administration in early 2017. Clarifying Ireland’s green heat and energy future is a key part of the 2018 Ireland Power conference, which takes place in Dublin on April 24. Jenny Pyper, chief executive of the Utility Regulator of Northern Ireland, will give a talk setting out how the influx of renewable and low-carbon technologies will be managed and operated to help provide green heat and power. She will be joined by Jim Gannon, chief executive of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Paul Travers, head of energy, climate action and infrastructure at Allied Irish Banks, and Patrick Madigan, head of bioenergy at Bord na Mona, as they tackle and try to clarify Ireland’s green heat and power future. Other expert speakers include:

• Jerry O’Sullivan, deputy chief executive, ESB
• Patrick Madigan, head of bioenergy, Bord na Móna
• Jenny Pyper, chief executive, Utility Regulator
• Stephen Wheeler, managing director, SSE Ireland
• Roger Henderson, networks connections director, NIE Networks
• Paul Travers, head of energy, climate action and infrastructure, Allied Irish Banks
• Aoife MacEvilly, commissioner, Commission for Regulation of Utilities
• James Lawless, vice-chair, Communications, Climate Action and Environment Committee
• Martin Finucane, principal officer, Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment