Ireland

With Australia prepping plans for vast green hydrogen and ammonia production facilities, two of the country’s state governments are trying to drum up the end-user market as agreements are signed to drive use of the gas in Ukraine and Poland.

Power Capital Renewable Power has acquired a controlling stake in an extensive solar portfolio under development by Terra Solar.

Irish power and gas utility Bord Gáis Energy is supporting Danish developer Obton in the development and construction of several projects that competed in the country’s first Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) auction.

While solar, wind and hydro generated 80 TWh more electricity last year than in 2019, coal and oil use fell in every EU member state, and Greek energy emissions fell almost 19%.

That was just one of the revelations of the latest Dentons’ Guide to renewables investment in Europe, which also noted solar plants could be switched off in Slovakia, Ireland could go either way on clean power pricing, and Luxembourg is struggling with a surprising headache.

For investment portfolios and for the entire renewables sector, diversity matters. A new independent study shows that by complementing Ireland’s onshore wind sector with greater volumes of large-scale solar, emissions are lower, curtailment decreases, and society potentially gains economically, to the tune of €21 per citizen. Conall Bolger, CEO of the Irish Solar Energy Association, reports on the power of daytime production.

The scheme is now under public consultation and is aimed at enabling citizens, farmers, business owners, and community organizations to sell excess solar power to the grid.

European renewables, including Spanish solar, made big gains as energy demand recovered before the second wave of Covid infections. Nuclear was a notable loser, in part because clean energy volumes in the north of the continent drove down power prices sufficiently to make reactors uncompetitive.

State-owned utility ESB is working with energy storage solution company Fluence and EPC service providers Powercomm Group and Kirby Group on its first battery projects in Ireland.

Often dependent on fuel imports from the mainland and frequently powered by fossil fuels, islands have taken center stage at an online forum which builds on a political process kicked-off by Croatia’s presidency of the European Council.