Preliminary results from the fourth round of the Irish Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS 4) show that approximately 1,334 MW of onshore renewable electricity has received support.
Of that total, 960 MW of solar PV and 374 MW of onshore wind energy were purchased at an average auction price of €96.85 (£81.73) per MWh, lower than the two previous auctions. The generation-weighted average price for solar energy projects was €104.76 per MWh.
According to the Irish government, the preliminary RESS 4 results compare well with other recent renewable energy auctions in Europe, both in terms of volume purchased and auction prices. The final results will be announced later this month.
Energy market analysis firm Aurora Energy Research said RESS 4 was “surprisingly” successful, attributing that success to the expansion of eligibility requirements that allowed projects under judicial review to participate in the auction.
The changes, including new risk provisions, come after the Irish Solar Energy Association (ISEA) warned that the potential success of the RESS 3 was hampered by an “overly rigid” design and “avoidable system failures”.
The Irish government says RESS 4 will guarantee an increase of more than 20% in Ireland’s renewable energy capacity. Ireland’s future prosperity lies in renewable energy, according to Ireland’s Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan.
He added: “Delivering on our ambition through RESS and other policies will create tens of thousands of new green jobs for communities across the state and attract investment.”
Solar success for Neoen
French independent power producer (IPP) Neoen has won 170 MWp of solar projects at the auction: Johnstown North Solar (29 MWp, in County Wicklow) and Garr Solar (141 MWp, in County Offaly).
The two solar power plants are scheduled to be commissioned in 2027 and 2028 respectively. Neoen has an existing Irish portfolio of more than 100 MW, including 58 MWp of solar power plants in operation.
Xavier Barbaro, chairman and CEO of Neoen, pointed out that this is the company’s third RESS success. He continued: “We have built a portfolio of high-quality projects in the country in recent years, which will help meet the growing need for low-carbon energy. In Ireland, like the rest of the world, we are proud to be accelerating the energy transition.”
Neoen has committed to implementing a community benefits fund that will support a program to support local initiatives. The first RESS auction, in 2020, established a Community Benefit Fund (CBF) program that has been implemented in RESS 4. The CBFs require producers to pay €2 per MWh generated annually in funds for communities living in the area live for the duration of the support. schedule.
The outlook improved, but Ireland was not on track to meet the CAP24 targets
Last year, the onshore wind and solar volumes provisionally purchased in the third RESS auction represented a 12% increase over Ireland’s then existing renewable capacity. Although 3GW of projects were eligible to compete, only 1GW was eligible for the auction.
Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2024 (CAP24) sets out the ambition for 80% of Ireland’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030. For Aurora, RESS 4 mitigates the lack of success in RESS 3, making Ireland’s capacity targets appear more “achievable”. although the country still faces a deficit of 1.9 TWh, assuming offshore wind projects deliver as expected.
Qualifying volumes in RESS 4 were still lower than expected, with the original procurement target of 2,500GWh to 4,500GWh reduced prior to the auction to 1,300GWh to 2,500GWh, resulting in a provisional successful procurement of 2,071GWh.
Steph Unsworth, Senior Research Associate at Aurora Energy Research, commented: “This auction was surprisingly successful, acquiring four large-scale onshore wind farms worth 1.1 TWh, despite concerns about the auction cap reduction making onshore wind energy uneconomic .
“Despite a lower average price for all projects than RESS3, an average price of €104.76/MWh for solar PV and €90.47/MWh for onshore wind indicates that this auction is close to the respective ceiling prices for these technologies came.”
Yet the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) said Ireland has achieved an ‘unprecedented’ fall in energy-related emissions with an annual reduction of 7.6% last year, and a 21% drop in electricity-related emissions – despite a large increase in greenhouse gas emissions. population and energy consumption.
