Ireland approves final awards in 1st RESS auction

The Irish government has confirmed the results of the country’s first renewables auction, which awarded 1,275.56 MW of solar and onshore wind capacity.

The procurement round, held as part of Ireland’s new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) programme, attracted 114 proposals, of which 109 were qualified to compete in the RESS 1 auction. After being declared provisionally successful in August, 82 projects, including 19 wind and 63 solar, have now been granted final approval, the government said on Wednesday.

Winners secure the right to sign 15-year contracts under which they will receive a premium on top of the market price of electricity. The GWh-weighted average price achieved in the auction for all projects was EUR 74.08 (USD 87.7) per MWh. For solar alone, it stands at EUR 72.92/MWh. Community projects, which were also eligible to compete, reached a weighted average price of EUR 104.15 per MWh.

The total offer quantity that was successful in the solar category amounts to 796.3 MW, while support was won for 479.2 MW of onshore wind projects. The list of winners includes Sunrise Energy, Lightsource Ireland and Jbm Solar Developments, among others. The full list is available on the website of state-owned transmission network operator EirGrid.

The final step in the auction process is the issuing of notices of award to developers, which is scheduled for September 25.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.184)

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