Ireland endorses offshore wind auction terms

Ireland’s government on Wednesday approved the terms and conditions for the country’s first offshore wind auction, which is expected to support 2.5 GW of capacity.

The pre-qualification stage of the first Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme auction (ORESS 1) will kick off in December, while the outcome of the tender will be announced by June 2023. A final calendar for the auction will be published by EirGrid shortly, according to the government’s announcement.

Projects that can take part in the competition are those that have been awarded a Maritime Area Consent. Earlier in 2022, seven projects, the so-called Relevant Projects, were deemed ready to apply for such consents.

The government said that the publication of the auction details during the weeks of COP27 “sends a strong international signal that Ireland is serious about offshore energy and our national climate targets and obligations.” The country currently plans to hold at least three offshore energy auctions in the current decade.

The auction terms and conditions can be downloaded here - https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/7498e-renewable-electricity/#renewable-electricity-supports.

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