The Irish government has taken a major step towards achieving its clean energy goals by awarding support contracts to four offshore wind farms, totalling a capacity of 3075MW. EDF Renewables and Fred Olsen Seawind's 1.3GW Codling, RWE's 824MW Dublin Array, Statkraft's 500MW NISA, and Corio's 450MW Sceirde Rocks projects were all provisionally successful in the country's inaugural offshore wind auction.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, expressed his excitement by stating, “This is the day offshore wind energy in Ireland became more than just a good idea and took its place as the future cornerstone of Irish energy independence. We are immensely proud of our members in getting this far, and it is important to acknowledge the huge volume of work that has been put into making this happen over the last three years by Minister Ryan's department, EirGrid, ESB Networks, and the CRU. This has been a real example of how industry and Government can work together effectively.”
The contracts were awarded at a weighted average strike price of €86.05 per megawatt-hour, which is index-linked until financial close. The winning projects will now need to secure planning permission and fully finalise grid connections before reaching financial close. The wind farms are expected to be operational later this decade.
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, was delighted with the auction's results. He said, “The provisional results of the ORESS-1 auction are not just a hugely positive story for Irish energy consumers, but for Ireland as a whole. The results are further evidence of what many of us have known for a long time; that we, as a nation, can develop and produce enormous quantities of clean energy – securely and at low cost.”
The unsuccessful bids were SSE Renewables' 800MW Arklow Bank and ESB and Parkwind's 330MW Oriel projects. The Irish government expects the four winning sites to deliver approximately €9bn in investment in the country.
This development is a significant milestone for the country's clean energy transition and demonstrates the potential of offshore wind energy in Ireland. As the country moves towards a greener future, offshore wind energy is set to play a vital role in meeting its energy needs while reducing its carbon footprint.
