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In Ireland’s most recent Renewable Energy Support Scheme 2 (RESS2) auction, 80 new solar and wind projects were awarded.
The 1.9 GW projects were selected from 130 renewable energy projects who participated in the auction.
The state did not support 50 projects with 998 MW capacity that were submitted to the auction.
This is an increase on RESS-1, where 1.2 GW was granted.
EirGrid, an auction broker, reported that the average strike price for all projects was EUR97.87/MWh compared with EUR74.08/MWh offered in the initial 2020 round.
The average price for community-based projects has increased from EUR104.15/MWh RESS 1 to EUR116.41/MWh RESS 2.
The solar power sector is once again leading the charge, accounting for 11 of the 11 projects that applied for the pricing mechanism.
A total of 414 MW of new onshore wind capacity has been awarded with projects provisionally awarded contracts, including the 104.4 MW Yellow River wind farm, which SSE Renewables acquired from Green Wind Energy (Wexford) Ltd in 2019, and Bord Na Mona’s 105 MW Derrinlough wind farm.
Projects will be eligible for a guaranteed price up to 16.5 years after their useful lives are over under the RESS scheme.
The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications will approve the publication of the final auction results on June 15.
