The Irish government has awarded 3,075 MW of offshore wind capacity across four projects in its first wind auction under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS 1). The four projects are the 1,300 MW Codling Wind Park project, developed by a 50/50 joint venture between Seawind and EDF Renewables; the 824 MW Dublin Array project developed by RWE; the 500 MW North Irish Sea Array project, developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Statkraft; and the 450 MW Sceirde Rocks project, developed by a joint venture owned by Corio Generation. SSE Renewables' 800 MW Arklow Bank project and Parkwind’s 330 MW Oriel project were unsuccessful in the auction.
According to Ireland’s Ministry for the Environment, Climate and Communications, the projects have been awarded Contracts for Difference-style support at an average strike price of €86.05/MWh, much lower than the maximum offer price under the auction rules, which was set at €150/MWh. The awarded capacity is expected to deliver 12 TWh/year of electricity, enough to power over 2.5 million Irish households and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 1 Mt/year, starting in 2030.
As of end-2021, Ireland only had 25 MW of installed offshore wind capacity (and 4.3 GW of onshore wind). However, Ireland’s Offshore Energy Programme includes a target to deliver 5 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030 and a further 2 GW of floating wind to be in development by 2030. The country also targets at least 37 GW of offshore wind by 2050.
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