Ireland has awarded contracts to four offshore wind projects totalling nearly 3.1 GW of capacity in its first-ever offshore wind auction.
The power capacity is more than half of Ireland’s target of 5 GW of offshore wind for connection to the grid by the end of 2030 and the equivalent of powering more than 2.6m homes annually.
The contracts were awarded to a 1.3 GW Codling project, a joint venture between EDF Renewables and Fred Olsen Seawind, RWE’s 824 MW Dublin Array, Statkraft’s 500 MW Nisa and Corio Generation’s 450 MW Sceirde Rocks.
Two projects, SSE Renewables’ 800 MW Arklow Bank and 330 MW Oriel proposed by ESB and Parkwind’s 330 MW Oriel, were unsuccessful in the auction, but there are still ways for these projects to move forward, the representative body for the Irish wind industry, Wind Energy Ireland, said.
The winners will now need to secure planning permission and fully finalise grid connections before reaching financial close.
