It was a very positive step forward for the renewable industry in Ireland on Tuesday 4th August with the announcement of the provisional results of the first RESS auction (see link below).
Solar was a big winner, with 63 successful projects, equivalent to 796MW, along with 19 successful onshore wind projects (479MW).
Seán Manley, Country Director for Natural Power in Ireland, said: “We have provided M&A advisory services on more than 50 solar projects so far in 2020, with 16 of these projects being successful in this week’s auction. We also provided advisory services to several of the successful wind projects and expect to continue our association with some these projects through the procurement and construction phases.
“The successful projects will provide a big focus for our onshore activity in Ireland across planning and environmental, owner’s engineer, asset management and advisory and analytics services over the next couple of years. The recently agreed programme for government commits to annual auctions so the future is bright for the renewable energy industry in Ireland.”
Hannah Staab, Natural Power’s Principal Advisor – Europe, has summarised the auction results:
“Expectations for solar were low when the technology-neutral auction design was initially announced, but solar projects ended up being a big winner, taking almost 800 MW of the 1274 MW awarded. This shows how rapidly PV costs have fallen, combined with technology advances such as bifacial modules that can boost yield even for low-irradiation climates like Ireland.
“The average bid price for successful projects was around EUR 74/MWh – substantially higher than for similar auctions in Germany, France and even the latest UK offshore wind auction, due primarily to a lack of indexation and higher grid costs in Ireland.
“While solar is the big success story of RESS-1, the auction results also spells good news for onshore wind, with 19 successful projects, including three sites with over 70 MW capacity, providing a significant volume of generation capacity.”
RESS 1 is the first Renewable Electricity Support Scheme by the Government of Ireland and is a pivotal component of the Government’s Climate Action Plan. RESS 1 uses a competitive auction process to determine which generators receive support. For projects that are successful in the RESS 1 Auction, this support typically applies for approximately 15 years.
Action Number 28 of the Climate Action Plan 2019 addresses the design and implementation of RESS. The action calls on the need to increase the volumes and frequencies of RESS auctions to deliver on the 70% renewable electricity target by 2030, ensuring an appropriate community/enterprise mix to achieve an efficient delivery of renewables. RESS 1 is the first step in this important component of the Climate Action Plan.
The RESS 1 Auction ran as per the RESS 1 Auction Timetable following the auction submission closing date on the 28th July 2020. The provisional auction results are subject to approval and the reserved rights of the Minister for Communication, Climate Action and Environment as set out in Section 10 of the RESS 1 Terms and Conditions. Provisional results can be found here.