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Ireland confirms first offshore wind auction terms

By: James Bernthal-Hooker 10/11/2022 Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (Ireland)

General Windfarms

The Irish government has approved terms and conditions for its first offshore wind auction. ORESS 1 will take place next year under Ireland’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), and is expected to secure 2.5 GW of offshore wind capacity.

As well as being required to deliver clean electricity to the Irish grid, projects developed via ORESS will need to make Community Benefit Fund contributions throughout the project lifetime, starting with the construction phase.

The timeline for ORESs 1 is still forthcoming, and can be expected from EirGrid, Ireland’s national grid operator. However, the prequalification stage is expected launch in December 2022 (so, next month). The qualification stage will take place in early 2023, and the auction results are scheduled to be published in June 2023.

Projects which have been awarded Maritime Area Consents (MACs) are eligible to take part in ORESS 1. There are seven “Relevant Projects” (which were consented under a previous, superseded regime) which were deemed eligible to apply for MACs in Spring this year. The MAC grants the project permission to take part in auctions under RESS and also to apply to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission.

"The publication of these ORESS 1 Terms and Conditions is another massive step forward”, said Eamon Ryan, Ireland’s Minister for the Environment, “for offshore wind, for Irish climate leadership and towards Ireland’s future as an international green energy hub. The first stage of this transformative auction will start before Christmas and it sets us on a path to powering many more of our homes and businesses from our own green energy resources over the coming years."

Ireland is targeting 7 GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade, and the government is planning at least three offshore energy auctions between now and then.

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Ireland confirms first offshore wind auction terms

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