Five wind projects win in renewable auction but disappointment at size

Five onshore wind energy projects, totalling 219 MW, were successful in the latest auction under the Government’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme, the results of which were published today by EirGrid.

The average price for wind and solar projects in the fifth RESS auction of €98.81 per MWh was up slightly on last year’s figure of €96.85 but under the peak in the 2023 auction of €100.47. 

Wind farms came in at an average price of €96.56 compared to solar energy at €100.63.

Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “Today’s auction means more clean, affordable and secure power for Irish families and businesses. It will help to reduce our dependency on imported fossil fuels and to make Ireland more competitive.

“While we’re delighted to see five of our projects win contracts we had hoped for a bigger auction and to see more projects get over the line.

“Our priority now is to focus on finding an alternative route to market for those unsuccessful projects while preparing for next year’s auction by working with the Government to get more wind farms out of the planning system and with secure grid connections.”

Contracts were also awarded to 18 solar energy projects with a combined capacity of 860 MW.

ENDS

Notes for Editors

A megawatt-hour is a unit of electricity demand or use. To put it in context an average Irish household will use approximately 4.5 MWh of electricity annually.

The average monthly wholesale price of electricity in Ireland since the start of the year has ranged from a high of €167.51 in January to a low of €95.21 in June.