Provisional results from the fourth round of the Irish Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS 4) reveal that approximately 1,334 MW of onshore renewable electricity won support.
Of that total, 960MW of solar PV and 374MW onshore wind was procured at an average auction price of €96.85 (£81.73) per MWh, lower than the two previous auctions. The generation-weighted average price for solar projects was €104.76 per MWh.
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According to the Irish government, the provisional RESS 4 results compare well with other recent renewable energy auctions in Europe, in terms of both volume procured and auction prices. Final results will be released later this month.
Energy market analytics firm Aurora Energy Research said RESS 4 was “surprisingly” successful, attributing that success to the expansion of eligibility requirements that allowed projects under judicial review to enter the auction.
The changes, including new risk provisions, come after the Irish Solar Energy Association (ISEA) warned that the potential success of the RESS 3 was stunted by an “overly rigid” design and “avoidable systemic failures”.
Read the full version of this story on our sister site, Solar Power Portal.
