RWE, one of the world’s leading offshore wind companies, was today delighted to be provisionally awarded a Contract for Difference (CfD) in the first Irish Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS1) auction, run by Irish Grid operator EirGrid.
The weighted average strike price of provisionally successful offers was €86.05/MWh.
The provisional offer is for RWE’s Dublin Array Offshore Wind Farm, which would have a maximum installed capacity of 824 megawatts (MW), and is the company’s first offshore wind farm to be developed off the east coast of Ireland. RWE is an important renewables developer in Ireland and a key partner to Irish Government in reaching its 2030 offshore wind targets and pathway to net zero ambition by 2050.
Sven Utermöhlen, RWE CEO Offshore Wind: “We’re very pleased to have passed this very significant hurdle as we seek to extend our global offshore wind portfolio into Ireland, as part of our strategy of Growing Green. As a pioneer of offshore wind, RWE can call on our more than 20 years of unparalleled experience and expertise to ensure the successful delivery of Dublin Array.”
Following the provisional CfD announcement today, there will now be a period of scrutiny, before EirGrid can formally confirm the auction results. If Dublin Array’s success is formally confirmed on 14 June, RWE’s next steps will be to submit an application for consent, while also completing the final stages of detailed design and procurement. A Financial Investment Decision would follow later, after consent is secured, with a target COD date of 2028.
Dublin Array is a proposed offshore wind farm on the Kish and Bray Banks, approximately 10 km from the coastline of counties Dublin and Wicklow. Once operational, Dublin Array would have an installed capacity of 824 MW, and consist of up to a maximum of 50 turbines, depending on the model of turbine chosen at the time. Its output of clean, green electricity would help to reduce Ireland’s carbon emissions each year.
RWE is developing Dublin Array in partnership with Saorgus Energy, both partners hold a 50 percent share in the project. Alongside Dublin Array, RWE is also in the early stages of developing a second large offshore project off the coast of Ireland, called East Celtic Offshore Wind Farm.
Globally, RWE continues to grow its offshore wind portfolio; it already has two major offshore projects in construction, the Thor Offshore Wind Farm in the Danish North Sea with an expected 1 gigawatt (GW) installed capacity and the 1.4 GW Sofia Offshore Wind Farm off the east coast of the UK, as well as operating 19 offshore wind farms, across five countries. By 2030, RWE plans to grow its offshore wind capacity from 3.3 GW to 8 GW (accounting for RWE’s share only), including six projects already in development in the UK – Dogger Bank South (East) & Dogger Bank South (West), plus four offshore wind extension projects Awel y Môr, Rampion 2, North Falls and Five Estuaries.
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