Irish grid operator EirGrid has announced the tentative results of the country's second round of renewable energy auctions, which kicked off at the end of April.
The company allocated 1,948.2 MW of renewable energy in the auction, including 1,534.1 MW of solar and 414.1 MW of wind. The final auction results will be released on June 15, with a final average price of €0.09787/kWh.
Overall, EirGrid selected 80 projects out of 130 submitted for auction, ranging in size from 0.5 MW to 104.4 MW, mostly in central and southern Ireland. Project developers receive long-term protective tariffs to supplement wholesale tariffs for up to 16.5 years, depending on the specific project delivery date.
"The tentative results have been sent to the Minister of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) for consideration, and if approved by the minister and the government, the final auction results will be released on June 15," the grid operator said.
This round of auctions did not include a separate category of PV concessions like the first round, so solar projects were more successful than wind projects. This allows solar projects to compete with other solar projects in the same category, rather than wind energy, which is already an established industry in Ireland. The ministry revealed the reason for this choice was the lower competitive cost of solar in the first round of auctions.
In the first round of renewable energy auctions, Irish authorities allocated 796 MW of generating capacity, with an average weighted bid price of €0.07408/kWh regardless of technology.
