Ireland allocated just over 860 MW of new solar capacity as part of its fifth renewable energy auction scheme (RESS 5), according to the provisional auction results announced on Wednesday.
For solar, the final average price was €0.10063/kWh. ($0.12/kWh), wthe the price for wind was lower at €0.09656/kWh, which brought down the average final price for both solar and wind to €0.09881/kWh.
Out of the 40 onshore wind and solar projects that applied to participate in RESS 5, 33 were deemed eligible to participate. Four projects did not qualify, and three projects withdrew from the process. All 33 participating projects submitted an offer price for their project via the RESS Auction Platform before the deadline of September 9, and the auction took place that afternoon.
Of the 33 projects that submitted an offer price, 23 were provisionally successful and 10 were provisionally unsuccessful. The final results of RESS 5 are due to be released on October 15, with the notice of award date set for October 22. Participants have until September 26 to submit a dissatisfaction notice.
The largest successful solar project is the 109 MW Tincurry Solar Farm and three other projects exceeding 100 MW were also selected. Solar projects far outnumbered onshore wind projects in this year’s auction, with wind contributing just 219 MW of total capacity. Most of the successful solar projects are located in the east and southeast of the country.
Ronan Power, CEO of Solar Ireland, gave his reaction to the provisional results to pv magazine on the floor at the Solar & Storage Live trade show in Birmingham, in the United Kingdom.
“The RESS 5 outcome, with 860 MW of new projects awarded, continues to validate solar’s ability to deliver at scale, strengthening energy security, creating jobs, and supporting communities. From family homes to schools, businesses and utility-scale projects, solar is uniquely placed to drive Ireland’s renewable transition,” he stated. “Solar achieved an increase of 7.3% in allocation when compared to last year. A fantastic result that continues to validate solar as the fastest growing renewable and uniquely placed to support our climate action targets.”
Last year’s auction saw the Irish government provisionally allocate 959.85 MW of solar across 23 projects. The final average price for PV was €0.10476 ($0.12)/kWh.
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