Ireland’s RESS 4 auction round has picked over 2 GWh of clean energy capacity
It represents 960 MW of solar PV, and 374 MW of onshore wind energy
The weighted average for the solar tariff was €104.76/MWh, and it was €90.47/MWh for wind
Ireland’s Ministry for the Environment, Climate and Communication has announced the successful closure of the 4th auction round of the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme or RESS 4. Winning projects secure state funding for around 15 years.
According to the RESS 4 provisional results declared, it has identified 2,071 GWh clean energy capacity as provisionally successful. This is equivalent to 1.334 GW of onshore capacity, divided into 960 MW of solar and 374 MW of wind.
This represents over 20% increase in Ireland’s renewable energy capacity, and provides a significant boost to the country’s 80% renewable electricity target for 2030, it stated.
A total of 56 projects applied for this round, out of which 43 qualified to participate in the auction. State-owned electric power transmission operator EirGrid then selected 27 projects as provisionally successful. Winners now have time to express their dissatisfaction with the results till September 11, 2024. Final auction results are to be announced on September 25, 2024.
Winning tariffs also declined compared to the last round with an average weighted bid price of €96.85 ($107)/MWh representing a lower average price than RESS 2 and RESS 3 rounds (see Ireland Concludes 3rd Round Of RESS Auction Scheme). For solar PV, the weighted average was €104.76($115.67)/MWh, while it was €90.47 ($100)/MWh for wind.
“Accelerating delivery of renewable energy will help to protect Irish households and businesses from high fossil fuel prices. To ensure that prices for Irish households and businesses continue to fall in future RESS auctions, we need a stronger pipeline of onshore wind and solar energy projects coming through our planning system and connecting to our grid,” said Ireland’s Environment, Climate and Communications Minister Eamon Ryan.
According to the ministry, onshore wind is the cheapest deployable renewable energy technology in the country in the medium term. Utility-scale solar will play a strong role in diversifying its energy supply and support wind in the mix.
Ireland’s RESS program received European Union State Aid approval in July 2020. The current scheme is scheduled to end in 2025, post which the competitions will be subject to further State Aid approval from the European Commission.
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