The Irish government has approved the terms and conditions of the nation’s second offshore wind auction.
As part of Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2024, which commits to at least 5GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030, the offshore renewable energy (ORE) auction site will be located off Ireland’s south coast.
Dubbed ‘Tonn Nua’, the site will be the State’s second ORE auction to take place under the Offshore Renewable Energy Support Scheme (ORESS). Bidding is expected to take place in early 2025 and the project will procure 900MW.
The ORESS 1 auction, which took place in May 2023, procured over 3GW of capacity from four offshore wind projects at an average of €86.05/MWh (£72.39/MWh).
The Tonn Nua auction will be the first ORE auction to be held within the State’s spatial plan, the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (SC DMAP), which was approved by the Irish government on 10 October this year.
The DMAP, including the Tonn Nua auction site, identifies four maritime areas off the Cork, Waterford and Wexford coasts in which offshore wind development will take place over the next decade.
Welcoming the government’s approval of the auction terms and conditions, Eamon Ryan, minister for the environment, climate and communications said: “Approval of the Tonn Nua auction terms and conditions is a hugely important milestone as we look to increase our share of renewable electricity to 80% by 2030.
“I have every confidence that Tonn Nua will build upon the success of our first offshore auction in 2023, ORESS 1, which overperformed all expectations and will save Irish electricity consumers hundreds of millions of euros every year. Offshore wind is good for customers, good for the environment and good for business.”
Representative body Wind Energy Ireland welcomed the announcement. CEO of the group, Noel Cuniffe, said the announcement “clears the way for a new offshore auction to take place next year and we are very excited about the potential for Tonn Nua to drive significant green investment to coastal communities in the south-east”.
He added: “Our focus now needs to turn to identifying new sites, for fixed and floating wind energy, in other parts of Ireland’s maritime area to build a strong and attractive pipeline of projects.”
In the fourth round of the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) for onshore renewable electricity, approximately 1,334 MW of onshore renewable electricity won support. Of that total, 960MW of solar PV and 374MW onshore wind were procured at an average auction price of €96.85 (£81.73) per MWh.
