Statkraft unveils plan to develop 3 GW of renewable capacity in Ireland by 2030

The Norwegian state-owned energy company Statkraft has unveiled a plan to develop 3 GW of renewable projects in Ireland by 2030. The roadmap includes 1.5 GW of projects that have recently been built or are already in construction; an additional 330 MW with signed route to market through the Ireland’s Renewable Electricity Supply Scheme (RESS) or via Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA); and 500 MW from the offshore RESS contract for the company’s NISA project, proposed for an area off the coast of counties Dublin, Louth, and Meath. 

Statkraft has also cited an additional 400 MW of wind and solar projects that have full planning permission, and over 375 MW of wind and solar projects already submitted to the Irish regulator An Bord Pleanála and awaiting a decision. Finally, sufficient land has been secured to allow for a pipeline of projects totalling between 200 MW and 250 MW to be submitted for planning permission every year for the next three or four years. 

In September 2023, Ireland awarded 646 MW of renewable capacity in its latest Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS 3). The country awarded 148 MW of wind capacity, spread over three wind projects, and 498 MW of solar capacity. It is significantly less than the previous round (RESS 2) in 2022, which awarded 414 MW of wind capacity and more than 1.5 GW of solar.