The Irish government has approved the results of the country’s first renewables auction.
Transmission system operator Eirgrid ran the tender in the summer and published the confirmed outcome on Thursday, which rubber stamps the award of contracts to over 2GW of projects.
In total, 82 solar and wind farms from 108 that submitted bids in RESS1 were successful. The average weighted strike price was €74.08 per megawatt-hour in the technology neutral pot with a solar pot hitting €72.92/MWh.
Almost 800MW of solar won support with 480MW of onshore wind successful.
The final step in the auction process is the filing of notice of awards to developers, which is due to take place before 25 September.
Winning developments in this year’s auction must execute a grid connection agreement by end-2021, finalise funding by 30 June 2022 and begin commercial operations by end-2023.
A second auction is due to take place next year, with a separate offshore-only round also on the cards.