The Irish government has awarded support contracts to four offshore wind farms totalling 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 have been provisionally successful in the country’s maiden offshore wind auction.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “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 in to 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 schemes have been awarded Contracts for Difference-style support at a weighted average strike price of €86.05 per megawatt-hour, which is index-linked until financial close.
SSE Renewables’ 800MW Arklow Bank and ESB and Parkwind’s 330MW Oriel were unsuccessful in the auction.
The winning projects will now need to secure planning permission and fully finalise grid connections before reaching financial close.
The wind farms are expected online later in this decade.
The Irish government expects the sites to deliver around €9bn in investment in the country.
Welcoming the results, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, 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.
“My department is developing further offshore wind auctions to bring us closer to this energy-independent future, while also chairing the whole-of-government Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce to maximise the benefits to the economy, local communities, and the environment.”