Ireland Takes Steps To Exploit Offshore Wind, But It Will Come At A Price
Ireland has taken a major step forward in its power supply plans to exploit the huge natural advantage of its position on the edge of Europe.
However, Irish business and residential properties are set to pay more than most Europeans for offshore wind-generated electricity after the state agreed provisional contracts with power companies on 11 May.
By 2050, the country is aiming to have at least 37 gigawatts of capacity — nearly as much offshore wind as France plans to have by that year for a population a tenth the size — exploiting a maritime area seven times the size of its land mass.
The moves will come as a relief to the real estate sector, with questions already raised about the demands being placed on the national grid by the growing data centre market.
The state’s Renewable Energy Support Scheme awarded deals to four companies, which will be paid an average of €86.05 per megawatt-hour for power generated from the wind farms planned off the Irish coast.
That is more than €20 above the European average of around €65 per MWh but significantly below current wholesale electricity prices, which are around €126 MWh and averaged €200 MWh last year, according to The Irish Times.
Sinn Féin said the higher price reflected electricity grid issues, high connection costs and potential planning delays.
The auction was supervised by national grid operator EirGrid and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities.
They awarded provisional contracts to:
North Sea Irish Array (500 MW), backed by Norway’s Statkraft; Dublin Array (824 MW); backed by Germany's RWE and Saorgus Energy; Codling Wind Park (1,300 MW) backed by EDF Renewables and Norway’s Fred Olsen Seawind; and Sceirde Rocks (450 MW), backed by Corio Generation, owned by Macquarie’s Green Investment Group.
Sceirde Rocks will be located off the County Galway coast while the other three will be close to Dublin. The wind farms will generate enough electricity to power up to 2.5 million homes or one-third of the state’s yearly energy consumption.
Oriel Wind Park (ESB and Parkwind) and SSE Renewables' Arklow Bank, failed to win contracts and may appeal, with the final decision confirmed in June.
An Bord Pleanála is in charge of the planning applications and the projects could start as early as 2026, taking one to three years.
Ireland's sustainability targets call for 7,000 MW of offshore wind electricity by 2030 and speaking recently at a summit in Ostend, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described offshore as “a huge economic opportunity”.
