Ireland plans to hold the sixth round of its Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) auction in the second half of 2026, Climate, Energy and the Environment Minister Darragh O’Brien said on Wednesday, as the country seeks to close a projected gap against its 2030 renewable power targets.
Speaking at the Wind Energy Ireland conference, O’Brien said he expected a “healthy number of projects” to take part in the next auction, which he described as critical to boosting capacity.
Projections for 2030 show Ireland falling short of its target for renewables to supply 80% of electricity demand, O’Brien said, adding that a well-subscribed RESS 6 would be essential to narrowing that gap.
Industry representatives at the conference pointed to grid limitations as a key challenge. Jason Welch, vice president for the UK and Ireland at turbine maker Nordex, said available grid capacity remained constrained and required political resolve to address.
“Grid is an issue that requires courage to fix,” Welch said, calling on policymakers to accelerate reforms and investment. He added that repowering existing wind farms would play an important role in meeting future targets, describing it as “big wind with a small footprint”.
Ireland’s transmission system operator EirGrid outlined plans for a significant expansion of the network following the approval of a new investment framework. Chief executive Cathal Marley said the sixth Price Review, announced last month and covering the period from 2026 to 2030, would underpin a sharp increase in grid build-out.
Under the plans, EirGrid aims to construct 876 kilometres of new uprated overhead lines, compared with 280 km built between 2021 and 2025. The operator is also planning 181 km of new overhead lines and 319 km of new underground cables, up from 20 km and 83 km respectively in the previous period.
Ireland has been accelerating renewable deployment as part of its climate strategy, but developers have repeatedly warned that delays in grid development and planning approvals could slow progress toward national targets.
