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Irish Independent
10-08-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
State's latest renewables auction ‘likely to fail to meet procurement targets', experts warn
The auction – the fifth to take place under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) – is designed to set an energy price for new renewables projects and is the last one that is likely to bring new carbon-free power projects onto the grid ahead of 2030. RESS 5 – as the auction is called – is likely the last time Ireland can hope to attract new wind and solar projects that can be operational before huge EU fines the country is facing in 2030 for missing renewables targets kick in, warned industry expert Steph Unsworth from Aurora Energy Research. The signs for the success of the RESS 5 auction are not good, said Unsworth, who is the Ireland lead for the renewable-energy focused consultancy. Fines from the EU levied against Ireland for missing 2030 targets –of anything between €2bn and €8bn – are 'inevitable' but successful delivery of RESS 5 'can bring the fines down', she said. 'This is the last feasible auction, which is going to bring on capacity by 2030, which means it's the breaking point for hitting those targets,' she said. 'It doesn't mean that Ireland can't still reach net zero, but it means things do need to change after this auction if we want to reach net zero by 2050.' RESS 5, set to take place from August 28 to September 10, is vital to the delivery of the Government's 2030 decarbonisation targets of 8GW of onshore wind and 9GW of solar PV, which would bring renewable generation as a proportion of demand in the electricity system to 80pc. But without adjustments to the auction price caps that have been set at previous RESS auctions, Aurora believes the procurement targets are unlikely to be met and RESS 5 will be 'another costly auction that will likely fail to meet the targets'. While Ireland has huge potential for renewables, she said, it is also a very difficult place to develop renewables projects successfully. 'Even when we look back at RESS 1 and RESS 2, which in the grand scheme of things weren't bad auctions that brought on a lot of capacity, that capacity hasn't actually been delivered yet. There's been a lot of withdrawals from those auctions, and we've had to extend the timelines as well.' Grid connections and the planning system have proven extremely difficult for projects, with some developments blocked by judicial review for as long as five years, she said. 'This all just erodes the business case, which means that when people are looking into these auctions they require very, very high prices for projects to prove profitable, due to all of these different issues.' But Unsworth said that she is optimistic that some of the problems are now being dealt with, even if this is too late to impact the 2030 fines. 'We're starting to see a lot of reforms people have been begging for. So I think, in a year or two, we could be looking at a much more positive Irish market,' she said.
Irish Examiner
16-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Bord Gáis announces green energy purchases as €1bn investment plans continue
Bord Gáis Energy has signed energy purchase deals with a number of investors which will buy enough energy to power around 250,000 homes. The company is increasing its solar and wind energy portfolio after agreeing power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable developers - part of the company's €1bn infrastructure investment over the next five years. The projects announced on Wednesday total over 629MW of installed renewable capacity spanning solar and onshore wind technologies. The new solar agreements are with Highfield Energy, BNRG, ILOS Energy and Power Capital Renewable Energy while Bord Gáis Energy has signed onshore wind offtake agreements with Encavis and Tullynamoyle 5. "This is a pivotal time for Bord Gáis Energy as we repurpose to become a leading green energy business. We have an ambition to be a net zero company by 2040 and we're working with our 730,000 residential, commercial and agricultural customers to help them transition affordably to a lower carbon future and reach net zero by 2050," said Bord Gáis director of trading John Dalton. "We've partnered with trusted renewable energy developers and the newly signed agreements will amount to almost 1TWh of clean electricity annually, enough to power approximately 250,000 residential homes. Many projects are already live or expected to energise in 2026 with some longer-term agreements active in 2028." Once operational, Bord Gáis Energy will be the largest off taker of solar powered energy from the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), the Government scheme which provides firms with guarantees to purchase electricity generated for 15 years. Bord Gáis Energy currently operates a 445MW combined cycle gas turbine in Whitegate, Co Cork which can power up to 400,000 homes. The company is developing two 100MW 'peaker' plants in Dublin and Athlone with a third peaker planned for Galway to facilitate the growth of renewable energy and ensure security of supply. Peaker plants usually supply power during times of high demand. Bord Gáis Energy's solar and wind portfolio will move from 380.70MW at the start of this year to 979.3MW in October 2028. In February 2025, Bord Gáis announced it would invest €1bn between 2024 and 2029 in Ireland's energy infrastructure and to support the green transition.
Irish Examiner
02-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Critical role of battery storage in Ireland's energy plans
At the recent Energy Storage Global Conference in Brussels, the general message rang out loud that energy storage is no longer a secondary technology but a central enabler of Europe's future energy system. Experts from across the energy industry emphasised the importance of energy storage to enhance grid flexibility, support renewable integration, and promote industry decarbonisation. David Post, President of the European Association for Storage of Energy, highlighted the growing investment in energy storage across Europe: 'We are witnessing unprecedented levels of investment, with countries betting big on energy storage as a key enabler of the energy transition. As costs continue to decline, the potential for energy storage by 2030 is truly transformative.' Experts across the sector agreed that energy storage will be crucial for balancing the increasing share of renewable energy on the grid while maintaining the security of supply, in addition to providing the flexibility needed to fully decarbonise electricity systems. Bobby Smith, head of Energy Storage Ireland, has led strategy, research and engagement activities since 2019 and is a keen advocate for energy storage and advancing solutions to address climate change. ESI is an industry representative body working to promote the development of energy storage in Ireland and Northern Ireland in achieving national decarbonisation goals. Bobby Smith, head of Energy Storage Ireland. 'Ireland is going in the right direction as regards energy storage — we're good, but we could be a whole lot better,' he explains. 'Essentially, we have around 1 gigawatt on the island of Ireland today, and that has been quite a good success story in terms of building out batteries and what they can do in benefits to the electricity grid. However, we are going to need to go a lot further, particularly by 2030 and beyond is we are really going to get off our reliance on fossil fuels and deliver a clean, secure energy system.' Analysis being conducted by ESI suggests that Ireland is going to need up to seven times more energy storage than what is being stored today. 'That said, the Government does realise that, and there is a national energy storage strategy in place, published last July and which is very welcome.' While the strategy does set out the direction to get to the long term storage needs — but at a very slow pace to give industry the confidence to develop and provide the right signals for investors to come into Ireland. 'The issue is that there is no investment signal for long-duration energy storage. The electricity market was designed around short-term price signals and optimising the costs of fossil fuel generators. Large infrastructure projects require certainty to secure financing. The RESS scheme exists for wind and solar PV and the capacity market for conventional generation to provide this certainty. We need to do the same for energy storage as a national strategic asset.' An emerging sector with potential for 5,000 jobs Long-term duration storage is a key piece of the solution that bridges the gap between renewables and zero-carbon electricity. 'The climate action plan has set ambitious targets for carbon emission reductions in the electricity sector by 2030. However, the EPA recently projected that we will overshoot our carbon budgets this decade by nearly 5 million tonnes of CO2, even with onshore and offshore wind and solar PV providing 80% of our electricity by 2030.' He adds that while energy storage is a relatively new sector in Ireland, given the targets our renewable ambitions, it is a sector with significant potential. 'KPMG did some analysis on the jobs potential in the energy storage sector and they looked at 2035 and different scenarios for the build-out and growth of energy storage. It depends on the pace of renewable build-out and the types of energy storage technologies that ultimately are deployed but its estimate was that this could create up to 5,000 jobs in the energy storage sector alone. And that's not even counting the indirect jobs through, for instance, the data industry that energy storage will help support.' In addition, there is the design, engineering, construction and maintenance roles, added to by legal and consultancy. 'There will be a whole range of careers and roles to support the sector — and, most importantly, many of the local, because these projects are being typically being built all around the country.' Today in the renewables industry, there is a small pool that has built out the onshore wind sector and now those concerned are being pulled into offshore wind, solar and increasing energy storage as well. 'As that is putting a strain on the resources we have today, we need to grow that and build out those skills gaps through new graduates coming into the sector, through learning opportunities and through specific training courses, which are really important. There is a huge benefit in terms of the jobs potential for local economies, similar to the wind industry.' David Post, President of the European Association for Storage of Energy. In a first-of-its-kind piece of research, in 2024, ESI worked with Interactions Research on a nationwide survey on public awareness and attitudes towards battery energy storage using a representative sample of Irish adults. With very little upfront information, people were asked how familiar they are with battery storage systems. 'It is not surprising that there is still some way to go in terms of public familiarity with battery storage with only one in three being familiar with the technology. However, the survey then presented some information on storage and its main use cases and there is a clear understanding of the benefits that storage can bring with over two-thirds of Irish adults selecting lower electricity prices as a key benefit, closely followed by security of supply.' Given the recent price shocks in the energy market it is no surprise that energy prices and price stability came out as clear issues for consumers. 'Battery storage can play a key role here in displacing more expensive fossil fuel generators during times of peak demand and smoothing out price volatility in the market.' When making the link between renewable energy and storage, four in five said they favour the idea that Ireland should be embracing more renewable energy, and two in three favoured the government investing in and enabling battery energy storage. 'So while we need to do some work in terms of building awareness of battery energy storage, it is encouraging to see there is a good understanding of the benefits it can bring and significant support for investment both in renewable energy and storage.'
Agriland
28-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
‘We need to move faster' on emissions targets
The Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Darragh O'Brien has said that the latest projections from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published today (Wednesday, May 28) are a clear signal that, while there has been progress, we need to move faster to meet 2030 climate targets. Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agriculture sector 'will range from a 1% increase to a 16% decrease over the period of 2018 to 2030', according to the EPA. Minister O'Brien commented: 'The government is fully aware of the scale of the climate challenge and the importance for Ireland to be a leader in accelerating climate action. '… We are undergoing a renewables-led energy transformation. Coal is on the way out, and renewables are now the backbone of our power mix; electricity generation from renewables has increased fivefold since 2005. 'It is estimated that renewables provided 40% of our electricity demand in 2024. 'We are continuing to support the delivery of renewable energy in Ireland through the transposition of the Renewable Energy Directive II and III, providing important permitting and legal reforms, and further RESS and ORESS auctions to support additional onshore and offshore renewable energy,' the minister added. He explained that Ireland is also delivering new interconnectors; the Greenlink interconnector to the UK is now operational, doubling Ireland's interconnector capacity. Construction of the Celtic interconnector to France is on track to be completed by 2026/2027 and the North-South project is advancing. Minister O'Brien said that these projects boost energy security and allow greater import/export of clean power. 'This is backed by concrete action; emissions fell by 6.8% in 2023. GDP has seen a six-fold increase and the population has increased by nearly 50% since 1990,' he added. 'Yet, emissions are lower today than they were then. That's real decoupling of emissions from economic activity – and few countries in Europe have achieved it under similar pressure. 'We're also seeing progress in other areas. Electric vehicle sales are up – by 23% in April alone – and not just in cities. 'Rural counties like Carlow are showing real momentum with a 42% increase in EV sales for the first four months of the year compared to last year,' he added. The minister also referenced the uptake of solar, the Renewable Heat Obligation and schools education and awareness as other drivers of the positive climate trend in Ireland. He continued: 'We know that the EPA projections are not absolute forecasts; they reflect delivery to date. 'The first Climate Action Plan of this government was delivered last month. Cross-departmental taskforces are in place. 'Governance arrangements have been strengthened, with the first meeting of the new Climate Action Programme Board held last week, involving senior officials from all the main sectors – including energy, transport and agriculture. 'Its remit is clear: to focus on accelerated delivery of the actions needed to close the emissions gap,' Minister O'Brien concluded.
