IRISHWIND Autumn 2020

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Building Onshore Wind – 70by30 plans Minister Ryan writes for Irish Wind Offshore wind, floating wind and Irish ports

Foreword by David Connolly, IWEA CEO

This has been a challenging year for our While the Climate Action Plan sets out a vision for a 70 per cent contents industry, much as it has been for so many renewable electricity system it never set out the very specific parts of Irish society, as we struggle to detail of what needs to be done by Government departments, adapt to a very new world. the system operators, the regulator and a host of other bodies to enable us to reach that target. Many of us worry for family members WELCOME TO THE AUTUMN 2020 particularly at risk from Covid-19 or have Addressing this has been the focus of the 70by30 Committee Foreword - David Connolly, IWEA, CEO EDITION OF IRISH WIND watched with trepidation as children which has brought together members from across the supply 05 return to school. chain and from various fields of expertise to produce three of a planned four-part series known as the 70by30 Implementation IWEA is the national association for the Welcome to new IWEA members Working environments have changed completely. Going to work Plan. 06 wind industry in Ireland. This magazine now means clearing a space on the kitchen table or assembling provides updates on news and events a table in a spare room, struggling with home broadband and 70by30 what can feel like a never-ending stream of conference calls. in the wind industry in Ireland and is The first report, Saving Money, proposed a series of measures Minister Eamon Ryan writes for Irish Wind to reduce the cost of renewable electricity while Saving Power 08 a resource for IWEA members in the And yet, despite this, our industry has found new ways to set out how the electricity grid could be strengthened to interests of the promotion of wind work together and to provide almost 37 per cent of Ireland’s support the integration of renewables. electricity during the height of the lockdown. energy. Building Onshore wind – the 70by30 Plan Most recently, Building Onshore Wind identifies the roadblocks 10 I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of IWEA staff, particularly and barriers that are slowing down the pace of renewable Please contact Lisa-Anne Crookes with to the events team who have put together this year’s virtual electricity development and sets out a series of targeted Annual Conference, and to our members whose commitment comments / suggestions for future recommendations to speed up the process to enable us to Henrik Stiesdal – Ireland and floating to working together on our committees and working groups connect the 4,000 MW of onshore wind we need by 2030. editions on [email protected] never wavered. 13 Offshore Work on the fourth report, Building Offshore Wind, is already In particular, the work of our Covid-19 working group, headed well underway and we look forward to launching it later in the Rosslare and the Offshore plans up by Ronan O’Meara, ensured that we were able to effectively year and showing Minister Eamon Ryan how the enhanced 16 pool information and coordinate responses to a rapidly target of 5 GW of offshore wind by 2030 can be achieved. changing situation. His appointment, and a new Programme for Government that Building alliances in rural Ireland Building the framework has climate action as a top priority, gives us a tremendous 20 Despite the difficulties we can look back on 2020 to date as a opportunity to grow over the next ten years but some of the year where we started to build the policy framework that will longstanding challenges must still be faced. enable us to deliver the Climate Action Plan. RESS results Dispatch down is now at record levels, costing industry tens 28 Finally, after years of planning, the first auctions took place in of millions every year and undermining our efforts to displace the new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme. Nineteen new fossil fuels. wind farms – 479 MW of capacity – won contracts and this Autumn Generation Table represents the first significant step towards the 2030 Climate The Wind Energy Guidelines have still not been published and 32 Action Plan targets. we must continue to work against the real possibility of a set of guidelines being produced that cripple onshore wind energy While the price for consumers was significantly lower than in development. REFIT we know that we can, and must, do better. We have already identified ways of improving future auction rounds to And while there can be no doubt about the importance of make them more effective, to deliver lower prices and to unlock offshore wind energy to this Government the simple truth is tens of millions of euro in investment for rural Ireland. that the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill has not been published and it will require cross-party support And as we settle into a system of annual RESS auction rounds we to get it through the Oireachtas within the next 12 months. are also seeing exciting signs in the Corporate PPA market with new deals announced this year that suggest this is becoming Developing offshore wind energy will not be easy. We need an increasingly attractive route to market for some generators. to see clarity soon on the grid connection model for offshore wind and work with the department to design an auction that ECP-2 delivers for industry and consumers. Another major success for our industry during 2020 was the publication by the CRU of ECP-2 in June. Each batch will now So there is much to do. But despite all that has happened over process 115 offers with the 25 largest projects – likely to be 2020 our industry is continuing to grow, IWEA is continuing to wind farms – guaranteed priority. With processing of offers attract new members and the potential for renewable energy in due to start in January it points to a consistent stream of new Ireland has never been greater. projects in the coming years.

These are solid, tangible, achievements on which we need to build an industry for the next decade and that is why the work of our 70by30 Committee this year has been so important.

The information and views set out inside by external contributors are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of IWEA. Pictures in collage from IWEA members and Global Wind Day entries. THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 05 Sponsorship Packages are now available. If you IWEA Doyle Shipping Group (DSG) are an Irish owned Marine and Logistics Company operating in Ireland are interested in sponsorship opportunities please since 1886. We have offices in all the major ports such as Belfast, Greenore, Dublin, Cork, Fenit, Sponsorship Welcomes contact Lorraine Killick, Membership & Events Foynes and Limerick. We employ approximately 500 people on the Island of Ireland and our services Manager at [email protected] or 086 7325012. New include but are not limited to Stevedoring, Port Agency, Towage, Warehousing, boat hire, Onshore 2020/2021 Members Contact Pat Brennan and Offshore Wind Handling and Project cargoes of all sorts. E: [email protected] T: 01-8192619 mobile M: 086 811 0787 W: www.doyleshipping.ie PrepayPower-Energy-Trading-v3.pdfMEMBERSHIP 1 18/08/2020 14:27:30 NEWS

PrepayPower Energy Trading are a trading services company offering competitively priced services and flexibility on the standard terms that are currently available in the market. Being part of the Linxon is a joint venture company set up by Hitachi ABB Power Grids and SNC-Lavalin to deliver turnkey PrepayPower Group, we have the financial backing to meet the credit needs of counterparties, and electrical AC substation projects. Linxon undertakes projects related to renewable and conventional with a large supply unit in ISEM, we offer simple, certain, fully managed routes to market directly to power generation, power transmission and transportation solutions. In the Offshore Wind sector, we an offtaker. deliver turnkey onshore and offshore substation solutions as part of the grid connection transmission system. Our team holds a variety of energy market experience including trading and asset management; Contact Derek Duggan Contact renewable energy development, grid operations and planning with EirGrid; supply company hedging, Sales Director EMEA We deliver sustainable energy solutions and act as a true partner to facilitate the energy transition. E: [email protected] trading, price forecasting, market and settlement operations. We are also active in proprietary trading T: +41793407076 T: +353 (0)1 514 3427 in the ISEM and GB markets with a 365-trading desk in place. E: [email protected] W: www.prepaypowerenergytrading.ie We want to speak to owners, operators and investors in wind and solar assets, and are actively looking to contract with merchant renewable projects, and assets involved in the RESS process. Arevon is a leading global renewable energy company, offering best in class comprehensive renewable energy infrastructure solutions including technical, commercial, financial and company managerial services to institutional investors and long-term owners that maximize value across the entire lifecycle Contact Killian Gavaghan of renewable assets including acquiring, developing, constructing, financing, owning and operating ERM is a leading global provider of environmental, health, safety, risk, social consulting services and UK Wind Asset Manager solar, wind and battery storage projects. Arevon is an affiliate of Capital Dynamics, benefitting from the sustainability related services. We work with the world’s leading organizations, delivering innovative T: 01925-599607 global scale and extensive market insight of the global Capital Dynamics Clean Energy Infrastructure (CEI) solutions and helping them to understand and manage their sustainability challenges. To do this, we M: 7825662649 platform. have more than 5,500 people in over 40 countries and territories working out of more than 160 offices. E: killian.gavaghan@

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MY Country Manager – Ireland Keltbray Lagan Power (KLP) is a highly specialised electrical engineering contractor working in the

CY E: [email protected] global market, delivering the highest standards in design, installation, commissioning, operation and CMY T: +353A n86 e602w 0393 approach to energy trading maintenance of ‘High Voltage’ and ‘High Technology’ power assets for Clients in the renewables and K Contact Emmet Lagan Data Centre Markets. KLP’s design capability delivers power solutions in accordance with recognised Director industry-benchmark operating standards at all stages of an electrical power system project’s lifecycle. We Contract direct with supplier T: 00442882839770 operate thorough out our 4 offices in Ireland, including Dublin, but also with an international reach with E: [email protected] Group offices in Canada, Australia and the UK. Flexibility on agreementHV durationsPower Systems (1 Engineering year up and to Managementasset life) Consultants Kilbride Power provides High Voltage Power Systems Design, Grid Connection advice, Owners Hedging 7% of domesticEngineering, demand Contract Management, PRINCE2 Project Management and Guidance on the Management of High Voltage Systems in accordance with EN 50110 to international Clients in Ireland, UK, France, End to end market serviNorwayces and Sweden. Formed in late 2018, Glasteq is a wholly Irish company that specialises in delivering a full suite of wind power consultancy services to wind farm owners and operators in Cork and throughout the country. ContactIndepe Padraign Plunkettdent Irish owned Our strength lies in combining our seasoned analytical skills and pragmatic approach with some of the E: [email protected] most advanced software available to offer tangible insights for our clients during all stages of their wind T: + 353 (0)86 0462899 Contact Director: John Kinsella farm’s life. We have experience working on turbines and handling SCADA data for all major turbine T: 086 3177490 manufacturers, including grid and market data. Contract Glasteq, and you can rest assured that no stone E: [email protected] will be left unturned. Whether you are arranging the handover of your wind farm after construction, or W: www.glasteq.ie you have concerns that your turbines are not performing at their best and want to review their efficacy, Get in touch we will look at your project as a whole to identify cost reduction and revenue increasing opportunities in every area of your operations. Renewables Academy is Ireland’s leading wind energy training provider situated just outside of Wexford Town. We are established since 2012 with a custom built premises with a real turbine tower prepaypower.ie/trading +353(0)1for practical514 3427 exercisestrading for [email protected] Work at Height and Rescue training. Our tutors are highly skilled and qualified trainers. Windcat Workboats has a long track record of over 17 years in serving the offshore wind industry. Our crew transfer vessels have a proven operational record in the field with over 1.800.000 transfers. We Contact Our customers are from all parts of Ireland and we also have a considerable amount of overseas have developed a strong long-term relationship with many offshore wind farm developers including 15 E: [email protected] customers who regularly book GWO accredited and general wind energy courses with us. continuous years working In Irish waters on Arklow Bank. Our fleet currently comprises of 46 vessels, one T: 053 9139535 off the largest fleets of offshore vessels, all designed and built by Windcat specialising in the wind farm W: www.renewablesacademy.ie Wind Turbine Safety Rules training is delivered online and at customer premises by our Safety On industry globally. We currently have in build the world’s first hydrogen CTV that uses green hydrogen approved tutor. What sets us apart is our flexibility and our willingness to work with customers by Contact Mandy Masters as a fuel and thus drastically reducing emissions on the environment. Having a variety of vessels we are scheduling courses that best suits their timescales. T: +44 (0) 7557 823 066 able to offer our clients the most suitable vessel with an optimum use on their site. The unique design E: chartering@ of the vessels results in simple, fast, safe and comfortable transfer of personnel and equipment in more windcatworkboats.com challenging sea conditions than other competing vessels. W: www.glasteq.ie

06 THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 07 EAMON RYAN Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Minister Ryan writes for Irish Wind Magazine about the challenges ahead

The renewables industry What’s exciting is the scale of it easier to invest in the project and in Ireland is on a roll. We opportunity for Ireland - our sea that will bring the cost down. What’s met the 40% target for area is seven times our land area. If really important is that this will allow you look at the map of where the us to build a renewable, sustainable renewable electricity, which windy places are in the world, the resource right here in Ireland. It will is a huge achievement. Wind North East Atlantic, where we are, give us energy security, contribute power has been at the core jumps out. For the Irish Sea, we real, green-economy jobs and of that, with Ireland right could put in up to about 5GW of economic growth and it will also at the top of international wind power, hopefully over the next help us to reduce our carbon league tables for the decade. That would be mostly on emissions. percentage share of power the seabed. Those turbines could almost power the country on their I am delighted that the auction generated from wind. own if they were running at full tilt. system is now up and running, with the successful launch of the Under the new Programme for The real prospect in the northwest, Renewable Energy Support Scheme Government, we’re going to move west, and south, where the water (RESS). As well as further auctions forward now and meet the 70% becomes deeper more quickly, is to come, we will be encouraging renewable target by 2030, and the possibility of offshore floating private sector power purchase this time we’ll by adding in other wind. There we’ve set a target into agreements where industries sources of renewable energy at the next decade of 30GW of power; looking to decarbonise will have scale, in offshore technologies as that’s six times what we’re using at a direct relationship with power well as solar technologies. the moment. It’s a huge investment providers. that makes sense because we have But wind will continue to be our such a comparative advantage by It’s also important that the main source of renewable electricity, being such a windy location. We community benefit fund, which and in the next phase we can look also have expertise in our grid. is an integral part of the RESS forward to even more exciting Eirgrid are probably a world leader scheme, is managed in such a way developments, where we truly now in how you integrate renewable that it gives communities a stake harness the potential of offshore power into an energy system. We in the success story of renewable wind to add to our extensive have already made huge strides in energy. I’m particularly pleased onshore programme. this area, but moving to 70% will that we had seven successful bids test the outer edge of the envelope. from community energy providers. To meet our ambitious new We will have to ensure that issues Empowering communities to climate targets - a 51% reduction of curtailment and constraint are produce their own energy is one in greenhouse gas emissions by minimised. We will have to get of the best ways to ensure that 2030 - we will be moving towards good at demand management and we have support for a green increased sectoral integration with building flexibility into the system. energy transition, and I hope these the electrification of our transport projects are just the beginning of a and heating systems, creating more The key to it will be getting good community energy revolution across demand for renewable electricity. planning legislation so you do this the country. Offshore wind will be a multiple of in an organised way, so that the everything we have done to date. licencing, the planning and the There is huge potential as well as grid connections are all done in a significant challenges, but it will really clear, fair way with proper set us on a path that will serve our consultation. If you do that it makes country well for decades to come.

08 THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION

Siemens Gamesa 5X_210x297.indd 1 20/02/2020 9:10:06 WRITING THE PLAN PAUL BLOUNT, FOR 2030 PORTFOLIO DIRECTOR WITH COILLTE

Building Onshore Wind This report sets out all the measures required to deliver a cumulative total of 8.2 GW of installed onshore wind by Building 2030, while also maintaining healthy competition ratios in auctions. The continued growth of onshore wind is going to Onshore be critical to meeting our national ambitions, particularly the Wind challenging intermediate targets in 2022, 2025 and 2027.

70 by 30 In the right policy and regulatory environment onshore Implementation Plan wind is capable of delivering power at very low prices for September 2020 consumers and, with the introduction of mandated €2/MWh Saving Power benefit funds, onshore wind also has the potential to bring Within the Saving Money report, we identify the impact considerable benefits to rural Ireland. If we were to attempt to reach 70 per cent RES-E without making any changes to the existing grid system, constraint of individual measures that will reduce the cost base – and hence bid prices – for all participants. These include The recent RESS 1 auction has served to highlight and curtailment levels would likely reach eye-watering measures such as longer duration planning permissions, the importance of a well-developed, coherent policy levels and the volumes of renewable generation required appropriate noise guidance and fair commercial rates for Delivering the environment. The auction was, in many respects, a success to achieve the target would become completely unfeasible. wind farms. Climate Action Plan for onshore wind, with almost all available projects receiving Our Saving Power report sets out the critical measures contracts. Significant cost savings are being delivered for necessary to integrate renewables on a 70 per cent RES-E system. The report sets out the individual consumer savings and The 10 years to 2030 are shaping up to consumers when compared to the previous REFIT regime, particularly considering the absence of indexation in RESS. costs associated with these various policy decisions. Most be a time of unprecedented change in the These measures are not trivial and will require considerable of the measures contained in this report could be relatively Irish electricity sector, writes Paul Blount, However, it is fair to say that the relatively unfavourable effort and resources across several key stakeholders straightforward to implement and simply require quality, Portfolio Director with Coillte. policy and regulatory environment in the period 2016-2018 including both system operators and the CRU. The successful timely, decision-making and a modest commitment of key contributed significantly to onshore wind under delivering implementation of these measures will cement Ireland’s stakeholder resources. position at the leading edge of renewable integration We expect to see significant demand growth driven by on its full potential. The absence of a grid offer process globally. Conclusion increased electrification of the heat and transport sectors for around 10 years, planning decision delays, constraint and considerable growth in demand from the data centre and curtailment uncertainties and regulatory issues around Achieving an affordable 70 per cent RES-E system by 2030 In terms of curtailment, the full implementation of DS3+ industry. cable installations in public roads all contributed to lower represents a considerable challenge for industry, system volumes of primarily older wind technology bidding into (95% SNSP), increased interconnector capacity and market operators and regulators alike. It will not be delivered design improvements supporting optimal interconnector At the same time, Irish citizens and the political system this first auction. Relatively high onshore wind prices, when without urgent co-ordinated action across all stakeholders. flows are all crucial to success. On the network side, as are demanding action on climate change and deep de- compared to international auctions, were the result. noted in the introduction, the grid needs to be capable of carbonisation of the sector. The 70 per cent RES-E target Our aim in undertaking this work is that it will form the basis supporting a 200 per cent increase in distributed renewable set out in Ireland’s Climate Action Plan requires the wind Our Building Onshore Wind report shows that if we were for this co-ordinated action and will support the successful generation along with significant increases in demand. industry to deliver twice as much renewable energy in the to continue in this “Business as Usual” approach, we could achievement of this ambitious target in just 10 short years. next 10 years as we did in the previous 20. expect to fall far short of our ambition with only 5.4 GW I, and the members of the 70by30 Committee, are looking onshore wind capacity on the system by the end of the Given the timelines for transmission and distribution grid forward to engaging further with all key stakeholders in the enhancement the development of this capacity needs to Most urgently the grid needs to be developed to decade and the cost of a 70 per cent RES-E system for coming months and years to make sure we turn our national take place in parallel with the development of renewable accommodate and integrate all of this additional variable consumers would likely be much greater than it needs to be. renewable ambition into a reality. energy projects. It will also require technical and local generation and demand. Critically, if the political and public Within this report we set out nine high-level measures which, engagement innovation, close collaboration between all support for this ambition is to endure and grow, we also if implemented, would allow us to hit the 8.2 GW target. Paul is chairperson of IWEA’s 70by30 Committee which stakeholders and a significant commitment of resources and need to deliver this transition in a manner that is affordable What is encouraging is that eight of the nine measures, in led the development of the evidence basis for a 70% relative terms, do not appear to present any fundamental funding. This is perhaps the most challenging element of for consumers. RES-E target for Ireland. Following the adoption of this difficulties. They simply require appropriate and relatively the plan but, if we commit the necessary resources, it is a target by the Government, this committee has recently modest resourcing of key stakeholders and key decisions challenge that we are capable of rising to. To support this national endeavour, the 70by30 Committee switched its focus to developing an implementation plan has been working over the last 12 months to develop a being made in a timely manner. The difficult one is the Saving Money to deliver on this ambition. detailed implementation plan to identify all the critical creation of sufficient transmission system capacity, which measures required to ensure Ireland can hit our 2030 target. leads us nicely into the next report. Implementation of the measures contained within the two The findings of this work are being presented in a series reports above should deliver lower prices for consumers. of four reports – three of which have now been published The Building Onshore Wind measures would ensure – that cover the key priority areas where we need to see competitive auctions. The lower constraint and curtailment action in the next couple of years. levels enabled by the recommendations in Saving Power will increase project efficiencies and lower prices.

10 THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 11 Bluesky’s National Orthophotography & Terrain Data CAN IRELAND BE A Providing a wealth of Geospatial data for Renewables Planning

National Orthophotography Coverage Applications include: LEADER IN FLOATING • 25cm resolution RGB and CIR orthophotography • Pre-construction planning • 1-metre resolution Digital Surface Models • 3D visualisations OFFSHORE WIND? • Accurate and high resolution 5-metre Digital Terrain Model • ZVI and Spatial analysis Picture credit: Stiesdal, Electric Images Hamburg. • The most current data available - Updated every 3 years • Civils Planning & Design • Available in CAD and GIS compatible formats • Site Management • Data available for instant download from • Bio-diversity investigations Ireland seems poised to take a genuine leadership role on offshore wind power, with www.bluesky-world.ie • Light of Sight (LOS) studies the new government’s ambition of “at least 30 GW of offshore floating wind power” off • Grid connection surveys Ireland’s Atlantic coast, writes Danish wind energy pioneer Henrik Stiesdal. • Wind and Solar Assessment potential • Planning Applications & Consents At an average hub-height wind speed of 11 m/s, 30 GW of offshore wind could have an annual energy production of 150 Ireland does not have shipyards or fabrication yards of sufficient TWh, corresponding to slightly more than five per cent of capacity to play any significant role in the manufacturing of the total net electricity generation in the EU. The installation steel foundations for a 30 GW floating industry, and it is unlikely of this amount of offshore wind would provide Ireland with that they will be built. a unique opportunity to both eliminate the country’s own emissions completely and make a significant contribution to But modular steel foundation concepts exist that could be decarbonising Europe. manufactured industrially at Irish tower factories and assembled in Irish ports. Concrete foundations can also be localised. But is it really possible? Technically, commercially, and with a local supply chain? And how do we deliver all that energy? Mooring systems are easily localised, cable manufacturing not so easily, but here, in contrast to turbine manufacturing, the 30 Contact us today The metocean conditions off Ireland’s Atlantic coast must be GW volume should pave the road for an Irish cable factory. classified as “severe”, with 50-year extreme wave heights up to www.bluesky-world.ie +353 (0)21 2409026 [email protected] 30m or more. However, most floating foundation concepts can Installation and operation services are manifestly suitable for relatively easily be adapted to such conditions at very moderate localisation. additional cost relative to designs for more benign conditions. DELIVERING ENERGY Ideally, offshore wind farms should be located at a distance All in all, with the notable exception of the wind turbines proper, from shore between 50 km (avoiding complaints about visibility) all offshore components of the 30 GW plan can be localised, and 100 km (facilitating the use of low-cost AC connection). and the job creation potential and overall growth perspective SLX CLASS LEADING Floating offshore wind power should be installed at water are tremendous. MET MAST & MET depths between 50m (avoiding risk of seabed collision) and 250m (keeping mooring and cabling costs low). But we are not there yet! The energy must be delivered. TOWERS SINCE 1998 A quick review of the bathymetry reveals that tens of thousands Bringing 30 GW from Ireland to Europe as electricity is a major of square kilometres of sea surface area off Ireland meet both infrastructure challenge, both on transmission and on network of these sets of conditions. 30 GW of offshore wind will cover distribution. It can be done, using HVDC transmission, but the an area of 5-8,000 square kilometres. level of international collaboration required is a major obstacle.

Consequently, there are no technical or commercial Fortunately, there is an alternative – PtX conversion, first to showstoppers to the deployment of 30 GW off Ireland’s Atlantic hydrogen, then to ammonia. Ammonia is a likely fuel of the coast. future, for ships and for industrial high-temperature process SPECIALISTS IN that cannot be converted to electricity. In ships ammonia can LOCALISATION be used directly in diesel engines, and elsewhere it can be MASTS | TOWERS | MONOPOLES Next - can we localise? easily converted to hydrogen for further use. METEOROLOGICAL MEASUREMENT EQUIPMENT Wind turbines? In principle yes, but unlikely. Towers? Yes. Unlike hydrogen, ammonia is easily compressed to become a Floating foundations, mooring and cables? Yes. Installation and fluid suitable for largescale export. The ammoniatransportation operation services? Yes. infrastructure already exists due to the widespread use of SLX1 TEMPORARY TUBULAR MET MAST ammonia as a fertiliser, and storage is straightforward and Localisation of wind turbine manufacturing and assembly is a extremely cheap. SLX2 MONOPOLE major undertaking and, since the volume will have to be split SLX3 TEMPORARY LATTICE MET MAST between several turbine manufacturers, it is unlikely that they will have any appetite for establishing facilities in Ireland unless Ireland could become the lighthouse for the future energy SLX4 PERMANENT GUYED MET MAST forced to do so. Which in turn is very difficult to do under the system, with floating offshore wind as the key resource, and SLX5 SELF SUPPORTING MET TOWER EU procurement rules. with a mix of electrical and chemical delivery of the energy. METEOROLOGICAL EQUIPMENT IWEA 2020 CONFERENCE Towers are different, since one tower manufacturer can serve So – why not? 21st - 24th September 2020 the needs of all turbine manufacturers. This is what happens INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL CONFERENCE today; all the leading players have three turbine manufactures OVER 1200 PROJECTS as customers. COMPLETED TO DATE. [email protected] www.datastructures.ie THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 13 “Through its ambitious accelerated development pipeline, the company intends to construct more than 1 GW of new wind energy by 2030. This impressive wind energy development pipeline currently sees 15 onshore projects at various stages of development and will see the company invest more than €1 billon in low carbon electricity generation infrastructure across Ireland.”

PrepayPower-Energy-Trading-v3.pdf 1 18/08/2020 14:27:30

In the past 12 months, as part of its accelerated development low carbon generating project portfolio base it is committed Bord na Móna Plans to Deliver 1 GW of New Wind Energy pipeline the company has achieved several significant to attracting and investing in resources and expertise to Whomilestones: are PrepayPowerassist the company grow its low carbon businesses and to the Power System By 2030 deliver the development pipeline of 1 GW by 2030. Bord na Móna is an iconic commercial semi-state company To achieve this Bord na Móna will significantly increase its • Phase 1 of the Oweninny Wind Farm in Co. Mayo, a joint that was established almost 90 years ago, to develop existing renewable energy asset base beyond the current Energyventure with ESB, entered Trading? commercial operational - Electricity’s role in delivering a sustainable energy future will Ireland’s peat resources for the economic benefit of Ireland installed capacity of almost 400 MW. This will be achieved adding an additional 93MW to the company’s wind ensure renewable energy is the key driver of growth in Bord and to enhance security of energy supply. In recent times, through investments in wind, solar pv and biomethane PrepayPowerenergy generatingEnergy Trading capacity. are Whilea new theinnovative procurement naPrice Móna, Forecasting proving a very significant market opportunity the business has gone through radical change, moving away production capacity. The company’s asset base will also tradingphase services is well company advanced offering for Phase competitively 2 of the Oweninny priced toWe leverage produce our bespokeexisting land short- assets, and long-termproject development from peat, and focusing on renewable energy, recycling, and continue to support the deployment of renewable capacity servicesproject and flexibility (83MW), aon 31-turbine the standard development, terms that whichare skillscommodity and technical price forecasts experience based in operatingon industry renewable standard currentlyonce available completed in the will market.see the OweninnyThe company Wind has Farm a as energymethodologies assets, as to we aid contribute our trading to and the PPA economy activities, wide peatland rehabilitation operations. Having completed much through the provision of additional flexible capacity to wealth of experience in energy trading and associated the largest on-shore development on the Irish power decarbonisationsome of which effort. are shown for illustrative purposes in the of this radical change agenda, the company has a brighter, support grid system services. Through its ambitious services in both the Irish and European markets. charts below. sustainable future and is committed to investing to deliver accelerated development pipeline, the company intends to system. low carbon energy solutions in Ireland, thereby continuing construct more than 1 GW of new wind energy by 2030. This • RESS-1 success for both Cloncreen Wind Farm and We are currently managing the hedging, trading and OurBord market na Móna intelligence Energy should Generation be of interest Portfolio to its pivotal role in contributing to the State’s energy security. impressive wind energy development pipeline currently Phase 2 of Oweninny Wind Farm market operations of Ireland’s largest pay as you go Operationalmerchant renewable generators where our pricingMW • Construction commenced on the 75 MW Cloncreen indicates multiple negative, zero and low-priced periods sees 15 onshore projects at various stages of development supplier in electricity and gas. We are also active in Drehid landfill Gas Facility, Co. Kildare 5 Wind Farm in Co. Offaly. It is one of the largest over the next 5 years. We would be interested in talking Bord na Móna believes that green electricity will play a crucial and will see the company invest more than €1 billon in low proprietary trading in the ISEM and GB markets with a Bellacorick Wind Farm, Co. Mayo 6.45 to generators who would like to lock out some of this role in delivering a sustainable energy future for the country carbon electricity generation infrastructure across Ireland. In 365-tradingprojects desk to clearin place. in the recent RESS auction and it is Bruckana Wind Farm, Co. Tipperary/Kilkenny 42 price risk with long term deals. and is focused on using its strategic landbank and skill set early 2021 the company will unveil a new funding strategy expected to be one the first operational wind farms in Sliabh Bawn Wind Farm, Co. Roscommon to significantly expand its renewable energy portfolio. The to support its strategic objectives in the green energy sector. Our teamIreland holds under a variety the scheme. of energy market experience (JV with Coillte and Greencoat Renewables) 64 company has been a leader in the Irish renewables sector including• Planning Trading permission and Asset was Management; secured for Renewable the 96 MW Mountlucas Wind Farm Co. Offaly 84 Energy Development, Grid Operations and Planning for some time, having been involved in the development of Derryadd Wind Farm in Co. Longford Oweninny Wind Farm Phase 1, Co. Mayo (JV with ESB) 93 “Bord na Móna’s assets currently with• EirGrid;A planning Supply application company was hedging, submitted trading, for the price85 MW Cushaling Peaking Power Plant, Co. Offaly 116 Ireland’s first ever commercial wind farm on its Bellacorick forecasting, market and settlement operations. Derrinlough Wind Farm in Co. Offaly *Edenderry Power Station, Co. Offaly 120 Bog in Co Mayo in 1992. produce approximately 10% of the *co-fired with Biomass C Being• partPlans of were the announcedPrepayPower to developgroup, PrepayPowerthe Ballivor Wind renewable electricity generated in Farm in Counties Meath/Westmeath and Oweninny In Construction M Bord na Móna’s landbank has been involved in the provision Energy Trading has the financial backing to meet the of energy for the state for decades and today the company the Irish energy market and the credit needsWind Farmof potential Phase 3counterparties. in Co. Mayo – resulting in the Cloncreen Wind Farm, Co. Offaly 75 Y Oweninny Wind Farm Phase 2, Co. Mayo (JV with ESB) 99 has a renewed focus on contributing to energy security, potential addition of a combined estimated 200 MW CM company’s expansion plans in this utilising its landbank for the development of large scale We wantto theto speakcompany’s to owners, development operators portfolio. and investors Consented MY in wind and solar assets. We are actively looking to infrastructure projects, that will make a positive contribution space sees it on track to become • Planning permission was secured for the development Timahoe North Solar Farm, Co. Kildare (JV with ESB) 70 CY contractof witha 70 MerchantMW Solar windPV Farm farms, on andBord assets na Móna involved lands Derryadd Wind Farm, Co. Longford 96 to Ireland’s economy-wide decarbonisation objective. This one of Ireland’s leading renewable in the RESS process. CMY renewedA focus n cane wbe traced app to 2018 whenro thea companych to energy trading in Co. Kildare. The project will be developed on a JV Planning K restructured and reinvested to build a more sustainable energy generators by 2030.” As a managerbasis with of ESB. a large supply unit active in the ISEM, Derrinlough Wind Farm, Co. Offaly 85 future for Bord na Móna. The company announced its new we can offer a simple, certain, fully managed direct route Pre-Planning/Under Assessment Bord na Móna’s ambitious 1 GW development pipeline to market for renewable assets to supply our customer strategyContract “Brown to Green” direct that involved with a fundamental supplier “Through its ambitious accelerated Ballivor Wind Farm, Co. Meath/Westmeath and is made possible by the company’s 80,000-hectare load. repositioning of the semi-state, moving from its traditional Oweninny Wind Farm Phase 3, Co. Mayo 200 ‘brown’ generation to a more sustainable ‘green’ future. landbank which allows it to accommodate projects of development pipeline, the company Other Wind & Solar Projects, various locations across the Bord naFlexibility Móna’s assets currently on produceagreement approximately durationssignificant scale. Its development (1 year pipeline up seeks to toasset generate life) RESS company’sStorage 80,000haAsset Management landbank and Optimisation700 Weintends offer fully integratedto construct PPA, balancing more than and settlement 1 10% of the renewable electricity generated in the Irish renewable wind power in appropriate places within this As active proprietary traders and managers of assetless landbank. The development pipeline is designed to ensure servicesGW forof RESSnew projects. wind energy In addition, by we 2030. are also units in ISEM and GB, we are skilled at identifying fiscally energy market and the company’s expansion plans in this offering SLSA for clients who wish to avail of this route Hedging 7% of domestic demandthat the company makes a major contribution to Irelands attractive opportunities for storage devices. space sees it on track to become one of Ireland’s leading to market.This impressive wind energy Climate Action Plan 2019, which has set a target of 8.2GW renewable energy generators by 2030. Investment of onshore wind capacity by 2030. Achievement of this development pipeline currently sees End to end market services REFIT As part of the PrepayPower Group, we are open to “Bord na Móna has a brighter, target will require up to 4 GW of additional onshore wind We15 offer onshore flexible PPAprojects and competitive at various balancing stages services discussion on all levels of partnership and investment capacity to be constructed. The 1 GW development pipeline to REFIT projects. opportunities. sustainableIndepe futurenden andt I risish owned set by Bord na Móna, will deliver 25% of this target and the of development and will see the company has made an excellent start on this journey by Merchantcompany invest more than €1 billon Contact us to today committed to investing to deliver recently securing more than 25% of the volume procured in PrepayPower Energy Trading understand the need for Phone: +353 (0)1 514 3427 PrepayPower-Energy-Trading-v3.pdf 1 18/08/2020 14:27:30 low carbon energy solutions in the first RESS auction. certaintyin low to carbonasset owners, electricity and as a result generation we are actively Email: [email protected] offering flexible long-term fixed price or fixed revenue Website: prepaypower.ie/trading Ireland, thereby continuing its PPAsinfrastructure along with fully integrated across balancingIreland.” services and Additionally, the company’s plans will play a significant settlement operations. We offer transparent pricing pivotal role in contributing to the role in contributing to the country’s national renewable Get in touch basedBord na on Móna a long-term has a highly Price skilled Forecast, cross functionalthe capture business price John Reilly, Head of Powergen Development, Bord na Móna State’s energy security.” electricity production and carbon emissions reduction ofunit the incorporating asset, and suitable engineering, project planning, specific communications, discounts. targets by 2030, while also supporting a growing economy Wefinance, can also legal, offer technicalfixed revenue and products project managementor a hybrid and population. approach.capabilities that has a proven track record in planning, executing, and delivering large infrastructure projects. Over the coming months, as the business continues to expand its Naturally Driven prepaypower.ie/trading +353(0)1 514 3427 [email protected] THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 15

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prepaypower.ie/trading +353(0)1 514 3427 [email protected] ROSSLARE FEELS THE Q&A with Peter Bouwhuis, RISING TIDE CEO & President of XELLZ 2020 Winning Image Earlier this year, XELLZ secured application towards end of this year. Tell me about similar projects approximately 300,000 sqm of land Start of the construction on the offshore elsewhere? at the port of Rosslare. The area has wind staging and storage area is XELLZ is involved in a number of now been dubbed Rosslare Europort planned to be Q4 of 2021. The rest of projects that are directly or indirectly CELEBRATING Business Park (EBP). the business park will then follow almost related to renewable energy and immediately after that. The schedules has always been a company that Together with its offshore services also depend on the construction of the looks for innovation and out the box GLOBAL WIND subsidiary, 24shore and XELLZ Ireland, new access road to the port and the thinking. Our XELLZ Solutions B.V. the company will establish an offshore master plan of the port itself. “Trangineering” department is always wind supply base there to serve and looking for new ways to engineer DAY 2020 Pictured is Jonathan Mitchell, 2020 support future offshore wind farms. What can the local economy expect? innovative approaches to advance winner with this prize vouchers County Wexford, and Rosslare in projects logistics. We had more entries this year to our Global Wind Day Photo Competition (XELLZ is a Project Logistics particular, will see a vast increase in jobs than ever before – with lockdown and travel restrictions in place it seems the Management Company that is active in from the new activities. Is Ireland an interesting market for photo competition was a lovely way for people to focus on the beauty in their the capital-intensive industries). offshore? And why? area. Besides employment, the Europort With a vast coast and marine area, We had some gorgeous entries with children, animals and farm equipment in What are your plans for Ireland? Business Park will also house an Ireland is the optimum country to the frame. In the end the judges selected this beauty taken close to Ballybofey Ireland has the potential to be the Operations & Maintenance Centre of develop wind energy. The South East is in Co Donegal. “I went up on three different nights to try and to get the light renewable energy giant of Europe and Excellence (OMCOE) and a Renewable also ideal for solar energy with its many right and the composition, I might have 30 shots all together I was happy with a net energy exporter and as such we Energy & Offshore Knowledge Training sun hours/days. This is something that them. I do photography as a hobby and do mostly wild life but since Christmas have been looking into opportunities Centre (REOKTC) the plan is work Ireland will need to explore to the max I have been trying to take more landscapes. I love being out on the fresh air even at this early stage. This meant that together with training companies and and become a “net energy exporter’ and people enjoying my images,” said Jonathan Mitchell. we were able to identify the possibilities with universities and colleges in Ireland through smart-grid connection with the in the Rosslare port area. We have now and Europe. Europe mainland and United Kingdom. secured over 300.000 square metres of land which gives us the possibility What has been the reaction to XELLZ Renewable energy is of creating an offshore wind staging securing land at Rosslare? the new oil and Ireland and storage area and also establish a We have received incredibly positive stands to become business park that will house SME’s that reactions from the local community the Middle East of are related to the renewable energy and from Wexford County Council as Renewables. industry and will be servicing offshore well as from Government. Sometimes wind projects in the near future. it’s good to take the initiative, start What do you see for Ireland and something and from that the rest will offshore in the next 10/15 years? Why Rosslare? follow. We have had positive responses The next 10 to 15 years are going to be Rosslare has been identified as being in from energy companies, installation busy years with multiple offshore wind the middle of the future offshore wind companies, and other stakeholders in projects simultaneously being installed farms in the Irish and Celtic sea as well the industry that were beginning to look and where Rosslare is going to be a as its position in relation to some of the for other ports outside of Ireland - as huge centre of activity. For the west UK west coast wind farms. most Irish ports have tidal and or draft coast we see locations such as Foynes restrictions. Rosslare has an open port port, which is best suitable to handle What is the timeline for works? access which makes it an ideal port for floating wind installations due to its Our planning is to have the design the South East. natural deep draft. of the first phase ready for planning

16 THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 17 ACTION NEEDED NOW FOR 2030 Peter Baillie, Managing Director, Energia Renewables

A range of critically important measures and decisions are now 2030 Projects urgently required from the Government and related agencies to We suggest “2030 Projects” can be identified now using criteria ensure Ireland’s ambitious climate action targets for 2030 are met. such as: 1. Location: Projects are located on the South or East coast and Climate Action demands that we accelerate the switch to can demonstrate potential to access a grid connection by Renewables together with new technologies such as battery agreement with EirGrid. storage and green hydrogen production. Ireland has commendably set ambitious renewables targets for 2030 in offshore wind, onshore 2. Proven and Cost Competitive Technology: Sites are using wind and solar. existing technology and are not relying on pre-commercial technologies which are unlikely to be realised within the Targets drive actions across a range of key stakeholders and have decade. been effective in reaching the 40 per cent renewables 2020 targets. 3. Licencing: Projects have applied for foreshore licences and It’s a good start, but to achieve 70per cent renewables by 2030, have completed public consultations. urgent and related decisions are needed NOW. 4. Consenting: Projects can demonstrate that 2-year environmental studies have commenced and are actively Investors and developers will incur the substantial development being progressed. costs needed to meet the targets, but planning consent processes must be made fit for purpose, grid access must be planned and 5. Local Engagement: Engagement with the fishing industry has delivered, constraints and curtailment managed and RESS auction commenced. dates set out. Onshore wind is also facing major challenges to add a further At Energia we are investing €3bn in renewable energy over 4GW by 2030. Right NOW industry needs to urgently work with the next five years through our Positive Energy Programme, Eirgrid and ESBN to reduce unsustainable levels of constraint and including onshore and offshore wind, solar, battery storage and curtailment in excess of 20 per cent in some areas. green hydrogen. Energia Group is a leading energy provider and infrastructure investor across renewables, flexible generation and Solutions to this will involve grid investment, new interconnection, customer solutions on the island of Ireland. battery storage, increased DS3 services, and economic production of green hydrogen. Renewables Revolution Energia already delivers 21 per cent of Ireland’s wind power. We Energia is delivering an innovative green hydrogen project to use are an integrated energy supplier to over 750,000 homes and curtailed wind energy to produce green hydrogen to fuel hydrogen businesses across the island of Ireland, and we are Ireland’s greenest buses. This will be soon be operational, but there is work to be supplier. We link the consumer to the Renewables Revolution. done to get the costs to economic levels in the medium term.

Some might say, “What’s the rush, we have 10 years don’t we?” The industry also needs to see the wind energy guidelines finalised Offshore wind is new for Ireland, so we need to start with economic, with viable, good practice, noise limits, and we need statutory proven fixed bottom technologies. This will create the pathway for timelines for appeals processes to be applied. Providing full end-to-end power solutions the future use of floating technologies beyond 2030 - once they come through the innovation and trialling phase. The RESS1 auction has been successful, but challenges lie ahead from engineering and construction to commissioning; The Government needs to enact the Marine Planning & NOW with the negotiation of supplier RESS power purchase Development Management Bill no later than Q1 2021 as per the agreements. These will struggle to deal with substantial and volatile Programme for Government. Only Developer Led connections can working capital requirements and increasingly frequent exposure Connecting over 2GW of renewable energy to the grid. meet the 2030 timeframe and the Government needs to conclude to negative pricing as the quantum of renewables increases. RESS quickly on its recent consultation. PPAs could add around 10 per cent to the generator’s costs.

Delivering 5GW of offshore wind in 10 years is a huge challenge, Then there is the opportunity for corporate PPAs to deliver a third well beyond the c2GW that Relevant Projects can deliver. The of the renewables target. CRU and industry need to agree and Relevant Project category needs to be expanded NOW to include implement a better system to allow transferability of guarantees all projects that can deliver for 2030 on the East and South coasts of origin (GOOs). In tandem with this the Government needs to and classify them as “2030 Projects”. ensure that the cross-border transferability of GOOs remains after www.kirbygroup.com Brexit, or the all-island market could be substantially distorted. All 2030 Projects need urgent access to a planning interest plus immediate inclusion in active grid engagement to agree To deliver the 2030 targets we need ACTION NOW. likely connection nodes. This will allow Environmental Impact Assessments and grid access potential to be progressed to enable planning applications to be submitted by 2023/2024. After that it will be too late for projects to get constructed and energised for Grid Solutions • Design & Construction • Turnkey • Procurement • Commissioning 2030.

THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 19 BUILDING ALLIANCES Priorities and stakeholders The priorities and stakeholder segmentation have been Welcoming our new informed by our members. Regional Public Affairs will focus IN RURAL IRELAND on one-to-one interactions with priority stakeholders who have team member a role in decision-making which affects the wind industry and those who can reach a wide audience of other stakeholders. Our new public affairs specialist, Yvonne O’Brien, will be leading IWEA’s work on We want to insure that people who are leaders in their building relationships and support for wind The wind energy industry faces the challenge of Our regional public affairs strategy aims to: communities are informed, that they have the facts and can energy development in rural Ireland. building considerable additional infrastructure • Influence a more supportive political and economic know us, and rely on us, as a source of accurate information. environment for wind farm development; They, in turn, can help people in their communities better Yvonne joins us from the Money Advice and over the coming decade to meet Government • Inform target audiences about the wind industry; and targets for renewable energy, writes new IWEA understand wind technology and why we must now think and Budgeting Service (MABS), where she was in • Raise awareness of the benefits of wind-generated energy act radically differently about how our energy is generated. Public Affairs Specialist Yvonne O’Brien. and associated technologies; charge of communications and marketing, but her roots are firmly in community engagement. Achieving this will mean an even greater focus on rural Ireland with a view to making it easier for IWEA wind farm developers Paraphrasing Arthur C. Clarke, “Information – in the sense of by building relationships, listening to local stakeholders and and other members to bring wind farm projects to fruition in raw data – is not knowledge; knowledge is not wisdom … but During the 1990s and early 2000s Yvonne taking them with us on the journey to an Ireland which can rely harmony with stakeholders. information is the first essential step to both knowledge and worked with what was then UPC Chorus wisdom”. on wind energy as a sustainable, secure source of power. Communications where she led a number The workplan of successful campaigns to deliver large Over the next ten years we need to see our installed onshore • A programme of proactive targeted public affairs in 4 It is our intention that every Regional Public Affairs encounter will infrastructure projects such as networks of capacity double and support new grid development projects to counties; aim to share information, build knowledge and leave everyone mobile phone masts and broadband networks. ensure power can get to where it is needed. we interact with a little wiser, a little more knowledgeable and a • Reactive Public Affairs in 3 Counties where we will keep a lot more positive about wind energy. The Irish seanfhocail “tús maith leath na hoibre” translates as watching brief and reach out as needed; We’re looking forward to her bringing “a good start halves the work”. Offshore wind development • Priority Projects that experience and her communications is in its infancy off the east and south coasts. Now is the time o Building data on businesses-powered-by-wind, like background to bear on developing the next to be vigorously active in public affairs, building knowledge the Johnson & Johnson plant in Cork for example, and generation of Irish wind farms. and relationships in coastal counties to make people familiar relationships that help us tell these stories; with the wide variety of benefits to their communities from generating offshore wind. o Profiling the wind energy supply chain to make it easier for people to understand the ripple effects of the contribution the industry makes in Ireland; o Events to encourage people to visit wind farms; • Working with members in groups and one-to-one to foster information sharing discreetly through IWEA.

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Policy • In response to questions on Article 13, the response set out • Legal review of the General Scheme: Gaps, inconsistencies and our legal arguments for why all seven options which the SEMC potential areas for challenge are highlighted. proposed regarding compensation for dispatch down were unlawful. The General Scheme of the Bill is still yet to undergo pre-legislative scrutiny. Deputy Steven Matthews, Green Party, will now head up Update We reiterated the requirements stated within the EU Regulation for the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and full compensation to be paid out for curtailment and for constraint of Heritage which will undertake this process. firm generators. The policy team currently manages ten committees – Markets, Grid, RESS However, is anticipated that it will be later in 2021 until the legislation Planning, 70by30, Offshore, Community Engagement, Health & The final response was largely supported by the IWFA and the ISEA is through all the relevant steps including the enactment of secondary The RESS 1 auction was successfully held in July with the provisional Safety, Asset Management, Storage with our colleagues in Energy through letters of support submitted to the SEMC meaning that it was legislation. IWEA is engaging with the relevant stakeholders to results announced in August. Nineteen new wind farms won contracts Storage Ireland, and Northern Ireland with our colleagues in NIRIG. supported by the majority of the renewables industry in Ireland and address the drift in programme and ensure the Bill remains a priority and the auction also showed wind energy prices falling sharply, with Northern Ireland. for the Government as is stated in the Programme for Government. the average price of €74.08 (non-indexed) well under the existing cost Each committee contains several working groups in which cross- of the REFIT support scheme which, as of 2019, was €80.25 (indexed). committee subject matter experts participate in and actively A subsequent information paper published by the SEMC in August Wind Energy Development Guidelines and Regional contribute to a range of industry-related issues. sets out timelines for subsequent decision and consultations planned Planning The 19 projects account for 479 MW of new wind generation and they by the SEMC from September 2020 onwards. will contribute 1,469 GWh towards meeting Ireland’s 2030 renewable Seven months have now passed since the end of the consultation The working groups provide IWEA members with an opportunity to targets. The auction also had successful outcomes for many solar and Offshore Grid Consultation on the draft revised Wind Energy Development Guidelines (WEDGs). influence key stakeholders and policy decision-makers and therefore community projects which will kick-start other renewable technologies There have been few substantive updates since then. Around 500 help to shape the direction of energy policy in Ireland. in Ireland. The successful wind farms will also provide almost €3 million Over the summer, DCCAE published a consultation on four potential submissions were received compared to 7,500 in the previous annually in community benefit funding to local communities. options for Ireland’s offshore grid models ranging from a developer- consultation. Described below, are several key workstreams currently active across led model to a fully centrally-planned model and two hybrid options various IWEA policy working groups and committees. Any member IWEA’s attention now turns towards delivering the successful RESS 1 in between. IWEA understands that DHPLG have completed their review of the of IWEA can apply to join a committee by emailing [email protected]. projects and working towards preparing for a RESS 2 auction with a consultations while DCCAE, who are tasked with the noise aspects, healthy, auction-ready, pipeline building up for Q3/Q4 2021. The Offshore Committees and Offshore Grid working group put are still reviewing submissions. Enduring Connection Policy (ECP) forward a comprehensive response, with IWEA’s positions being The CRU published the final ECP-2 decision in June and it proved to Community Engagement summarised as follows: IWEA’s Regional Planning Working Group (WG) has been making be a good result for the renewables industry. The decision is for three A key piece of work for the committee in recent months was considerable advances in our work responding to the public Pre-2030 - To meet the 5 GW target set out in the Programme for annual batches that will process up to 115 offers each. participating in the response to the consultation on offshore grid consultations on new draft County Development Plans (CDP). So far, Government: connection by setting out the advantages for local communities of we have responded to 13 different CDP consultations and Galway’s IWEA advocated for a basis of Option 1 (developer-led model) The prioritisation ruleset ensures that 25 of these offers will go a decentralised approach to offshore grid development. Committee Renewable Energy Strategy consultation. with components of Option 2, focused on the proactive strategic to renewable projects with the largest energy (MWh) capability. members have also been sharing best practice approaches to development of the transmission system, being progressed as a Following this, 60 offers will be processed based on date of planning community engagement during Covid-19 and how they have In the WG’s submissions we inform the County Councils of the hybrid solution to take Ireland to our 2030 targets. This should be grant. Storage projects will form part of this with a limit of 10 offers per overcome the challenges created by the lockdown to continue to benefits of wind energy and its popularity. We follow this by tackling applied to the Relevant Projects and the Enduring Projects which can batch. The remaining 30 offers are for non-GPA/community projects. deliver safe, genuine, community engagement on projects. any county-specific planning problems that may impede future deliver pre-2030. development of wind. Finally, we advocate for the spatial planning of There will be enhanced early engagement so that projects will be In addition, the committee has been working on the aftermath of wind energy infrastructure on a regional basis, rather than at the Local Post-2030 - To progress towards the 30 GW of export potential in offered an opportunity to withdraw once batch processing begins RESS 1 and particularly how the Community Benefit proposals set out Authority level as has been the case to-date. the Programme for Government: with a 75 per cent refund of their application fee or one opportunity to in the terms and conditions can be applied practically. reduce MEC. The CRU has directed EirGrid to develop a new method IWEA believes a plan-led approach that is zoned appropriately is likely New IWEA Studies to be needed post-2030 to unlock investment beyond 5 GW and to to schedule firm access quantities for contracted projects which is Feedback from members has helped shape a greater understanding Negative Pricing Analysis anticipated to be developed by late 2021. of the kinds of queries that are coming up in communities and there allow Ireland to tap into the 30 GW of potential for export as outlined in the Programme for Government. IWEA commissioned Baringa Partners to carry out analysis for the is a clear need to support local people to maximise the benefit from industry in the lead up to the RESS 1 auction on the likelihood of The first batch, ECP 2.1, is open for applications now until the end of these funds. Plans are underway for a dedicated workshop in the negative pricing occurring in the market under numerous scenarios September. Offer processing will begin in January 2021 and conclude coming months with officials from the department and the SEAI who Planning for the transition from the pre-2030 model to the post-2030 more plan-led approach must begin as soon as a pre-2030 model out to 2035. Full results of the analysis are available on the GreenTech by December 2021. Subsequent batches will open for applications in are working in the area. Skillnet website for members. September 2021 and 2022. is defined to provide a clear, transparent roadmap for offshore wind As well as the focus on onshore wind farm development the committee development into the future. IWEA recommended this model and Zero Carbon by 2050 has also been working to support members engaged in offshore roadmap are consulted upon once policy decisions to support the Price Review 5 IWEA has recently commissioned UCC MaREI to carry out an projects with a very successful webinar on community engagement export ambitions in the Programme for Government have been assessment of what Ireland’s energy system might look like in a zero- Price Review 5 (PR5) will determine the level of funding allowed by for offshore wind farms held over the summer. A number of Irish and developed. carbon economy by 2050. The analysis will look at Ireland’s potential the CRU for ESB and EirGrid to carry out their work for the next 5 British examples of best practice were shared. years (2021-2025). It is extremely important for IWEA that the system We are expecting the final decision on the chosen offshore grid model electricity demand and generation portfolios with widespread operators are adequately funded and incentivised to deliver on our in the coming months. electrification of heat and transport, substantial electricity exports 70by30 targets. Clean Energy Package to Europe, and use of ‘green hydrogen’ in the economy. Results are The SEM Committee consultation on the Clean Energy Package (CEP) Offshore Consenting expected towards the end of 2020. The CRU’s draft determination on the PR5 revenue allowance is out Articles 12 and 13, which dealt with the removal of priority dispatch for consultation until 18 September and, at the time of writing, the and compensation for dispatch down, was published in late April The delivery of the Marine Planning and Development Management Future Market Design IWEA PR5 working group is hard at work developing a comprehensive 2020. Bill (MPDM) is a critical step for the successful deployment of IWEA has recently tasked ESRI to investigate future response. offshore wind. A dedicated subgroup has been set up in IWEA to market design options for Ireland’s electricity IWEA and NIRIG submitted a comprehensive response to the review the General Scheme of the Bill (introducing a new streamlined market structure in order to accommodate IWEA welcome that the CRU’s draft determination allows for almost consultation in June 2020 following several engagements between development management process for certain projects in the maritime 70 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. the full ‘Network Capex’ spend in PR5 which means EirGrid and ESB the IWEA CEP working group and the CRU, UR and all four System area inclusive of offshore wind energy). This analysis will examine the evolution of should have the necessary resources to maintain and develop the grid. Operators on the island. the I-SEM, system services structures, the An initial review has been completed focussing upon three main It is also positive that the CRU has set annual dispatch down targets capacity market and other areas over the components. of 5% and annual targets for increases in SNSP up to 85% by 2025. As a brief summary, the main position were: next decade. • The SEMC needs to publish a roadmap and timeline as to when • Developer perspective: what are the issues that we would like However, there is some concern that the CRU is proposing to disallow the decisions will be made on Article 12 and Article 13 (this was to see addressed in the legislation? Are there aspects of the Bill costs for a number of EirGrid’s new strategic initiatives to further subsequently published in August 2020); that are not fit for purpose or don’t work for us as developers? integrate renewables such as the DS3+ programme and new control • In response to questions on Article 12, the response outlined • International perspective: Can we learn from experiences in centre tools. We are expecting the final decision on PR5 before the industry’s specific interpretations and concerns on how priority more mature offshore wind markets like the UK and Germany? end of the year. dispatch would be granted and removed from projects going A high-level review of learnings from those markets is provided. forward;

22 THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 23 NEW SURVEY SHOWS STRONG IRISH BATTERY STORAGE PROJECT PIPELINE

Energy Storage Ireland (ESI) has just completed a survey This reserve power must be available at a moment’s notice of its members and the results show a very strong pipeline and currently the TSOs meet the majority of their reserve of battery storage projects in Ireland and Northern Ireland requirement from fossil fuel generators. This means that fossil with 54 projects, making up just under 2,300 MW of fuel generators are often turned on or run inefficiently just so capacity, in some stage of development. they are available to provide this immediate reserve back-up. Replacing these fossil fuel generators with batteries will deliver Battery storage will play an essential role in decarbonising the huge benefits in terms of system cost savings, emissions all-island electricity system so it is extremely positive to see the reductions and lower renewable curtailment as demonstrated potential scale of the industry here. in a study, Store, Respond and Save, carried out by energy experts Baringa. The results show that 1,566 MW of the pipeline are projects that currently have planning permission while a further 318 MW More needed of projects are in the planning process and hopefully expecting However, while the pipeline results paint a good picture for the a decision soon. short-term, we will need a lot more energy storage to meet our decarbonisation goals and there is a considerable amount Currently there are just 21 MW of operational battery storage of uncertainty that may impact the pipeline of projects able to on the island which is made up of Statkraft’s 11 MW Kilathmoy develop from 2022/2023 onwards. battery in Co Kerry, which went live this year, and the 10 MW Kilroot battery in Northern Ireland. For example, the CRU has imposed a cap on the amount of battery projects that can receive a grid connection under the However, this is a picture that is likely to change dramatically recently launched ECP-2 offer process. The prioritisation of in the near-term as there is a total of 692 MW of projects in projects by date of planning grant also means that most battery advanced development with an active route to market that are projects will likely be at the back of the queue and may need looking to come online in the next 12-18 months. to wait a couple of years before receiving a connection offer. The DS3 arrangements as they currently stand are also due Fast response to end in 2023. Consultations are ongoing on the enduring These projects will be providing valuable system support framework for 2030 and beyond but this will take time to services via DS3 to help manage the electricity grid with high develop. Clarity on the enduring solution is needed as soon as levels of wind generation. They will predominantly be used possible to provide long-term certainty to projects that are in to provide fast acting frequency response and reserve grid construction now and to developers looking to build. services that can replace the need to use fossil fuel generators. For example, to ensure the stability of the electricity system in The role of longer duration storage will also become important case of a sudden disruption to power generation or demand, as we progress to 2030. Clear investment signals are needed such as a large generator failing unexpectedly, the Transmission to ensure that these types of storage projects are incentivised System Operators (TSOs), EirGrid and SONI, must make sure over the medium to long-term. that there is sufficient reserve back-up power on the system at all times. Find out more about the work of Energy Storage Ireland at energystorageireland.com

THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 25 Planning andPlanning and EnvironmentalEnvironmental GETTING CONNECTED Consultants Consultants SUPPORT FOR APPROVAL ON NORTH SOUTH INTERCONNECTOR Planning andPlanning and EnvironmentalEnvironmental Consultants Consultants

The decision to grant planning permission for through its delivery programme; will help reduce the cost of the North South Interconnector this week by electricity and will provide a route to market for renewable Minister for Infrastructure Nichola Mallon MLA energy at a time when the green collar sector needs it most.” was warmly welcomed by a number of quarters. NIRIG’s Steven Agnew urged; “With this significant project The interconnector which is critical to improving the finally receiving the stamp of approval after almost 10 security of electricity supply across the island of Ireland was years, the onus must now be on creating a cohesive Energy described by Steven Agnew, Head of the Northern Ireland Strategy that reflects this important step forward. Let’s not Renewables Industry Group (NIRIG) as ‘the most significant let another decade pass us by to make real progress and infrastructure project of our generation.” instead set a target for 80% renewable electricity by 2030, Planning for your Irish wind farm harnessing the opportunities renewables presents both now While EirGrid CEO, Mark Foley described it as “essential as part of the green recovery and in the future.” development pipeline for ensuring local businesses have the power they need to With the Irish Climate Action Plan’s call for another expand and to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), with “This is a particularly significant moment for the renewables sector, as the interconnector’s construction is vitally 4GW+ of new onshore wind energy by 2030, and investors seeking an efficient, green and secure electricity annual ECP grid connection offer rounds for which important in our fight against climate change. Its creation supply.” planning permission is a prerequisite, now is the time will allow for the efficient flow of renewable electricity across to be considering your planning and environmental He added; “We welcome this positive decision from Minister the border in both directions, allowing us to capitalise on requirements for your project pipeline. Mallon. The North South Interconnector is undoubtedly the scale of opportunity that exists locally.” the most important infrastructure scheme on the island MKO identify wind farm sites, assess their feasibility today and will deliver very real benefits to domestic and The project is a much-needed high capacity and resilient and undertake all ecology and environmental surveys. commercial consumers, helping to unlock a green economic link between the electricity grids in Northern Ireland and We produce all required environmental reports, prepare planning permission applications, and deliver recovery. Ireland and will remove costly blockages on the network. It will allow for the flow of 900 MW of renewable electricity consents for shovel-ready projects. across the border, in both directions, enough to power “As we move beyond the immediate Covid-9 crisis to a new Our track record is unrivalled. Talk to us today. reality, it is critical that government does all that it can to 600,000 homes on green energy. unlock the potential of the green recovery and a green jobs revolution. This project will create local construction jobs

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Tuam Rd., Galway, H91 VW84, Ireland | +353 (0)91 73 56 11 | [email protected] | www.mkoireland.ie | @mkoireland 26 THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION

Planning for your Irish wind farm development pipeline With the Irish Climate Action Plan’s call for another 4GW+ of new onshore wind energy by 2030, and annual ECP grid connection offer rounds for which planning permission is a prerequisite, now is the time to be considering your planning and environmental requirements for your project pipeline.

MKO identify wind farm sites, assess their feasibility and undertake all ecology and environmental surveys. We produce all required environmental reports, prepare planning permission applications, and deliver consents for shovel-ready projects.

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Tuam Rd., Galway, H91 VW84, Ireland | +353 (0)91 73 56 11 | [email protected] | www.mkoireland.ie | @mkoireland “We’re a small team. We need to be up to date across a lot of GREEN TECH SKILLNET areas. We need short, bespoke pieces of impact training, the RESS DELIVERS JOBS, INVESTMENT kind that allows us to stay at the cutting edge of technology and knowledge. That’s why we benefit from the Green Tech Skillnet. It’s OPEN FOR YOUR better to pool expertise than to plough your own furrow.” Ronan AND CHEAPER POWER O’Meara, Managing Director, EnergyPro BUSINESS At the start of September the Government approved the results of the first Renewable Electricity Support Find out more at skillnetireland.ie/casestudy/energypro/ Scheme announcing that 82 wind, solar and community energy projects were successful in the first auction Green Tech Skillnet is a learning network for companies of all sizes round writes IWEA Head of Public Affairs Justin Moran. in the renewable energy and green technology sectors. We are co- SUPPORTING WORKFORCE funded by Skillnet Ireland and member companies. Skillnet Ireland is funded through the Department of Education and Skills. TRANSITIONS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY The auction was a major success for wind energy with 19 new Separate to the auction design, commercial rates for onshore Green Tech Skillnet currently has an application with Skillnet wind farms awarded contracts with a combined capacity of 479 wind farms have been trebled in recent years, which also The network has continued to operate from home during the Ireland for their Employment Activation Programme. Through this MW. exerted an upwards pressure on bid prices, as did rising levels Covid-19 crisis with help from our members, IWEA and Skillnet call for proposals Skillnet Ireland is seeking ambitious ideas on the of constraint and curtailment on the energy system. Ireland. upskilling of workers impacted by Covid-19. Alongside solar and community energy the first auction is There was a steep learning curve for everyone with the transition expected to deliver 2,237 GWh of electricity and to save more We firmly believe prices can be better with a different auction At Green Tech we see this as an opportunity to address the skill from 100 per cent face-to-face delivery of programmes to online than 670,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. design and if there was more pressure from the Government gaps and shortages that exist today in the sector and to ensure delivery, but we have successfully delivered 53 programmes/ to cut power prices. A recent report by energy market experts that we do not face a shortage of skilled workers in the coming training courses since mid-March and look forward to supporting It will also support an investment in Ireland of over €1.4 billion Everoze entitled Saving Money confirmed that the right policy years as Ireland transitions to a zero-carbon future. and support the recovery by creating roughly 1,000 jobs. choices by the new Government could halve the price of member companies into the future. renewable electricity. The results were warmly welcomed by Minister for Climate GREEN TECH SKILLNET FUTURE SKILLS OFFSHORE REPORT LAUNCH Action, Communications Networks and Transport Eamon Ryan With planning underway for future onshore rounds and the first After an extremely windy photo, we launched Harnessing our TD. offshore auction due next year it is time now for policymakers to PROGRAMME Potential: Investment and jobs in Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industry work with industry to identify new ways to deliver more power We were delighted to receive further funding for our future skills in May in collaboration with IWEA and Skillnet Ireland. “The first RESS auction provides us with a platform for rapid and cheaper power under the RESS. programmes and look forward to presenting them towards the end deployment of onshore wind and solar projects at scale and at of the year. least cost, replacing fossil fuels on our energy grid,” he said. The aim of the Future Skills Programme (FSP) is to facilitate the “The results are very competitive and represent a significant supply of the emerging and future skills industry will need by saving on previous support schemes.” addressing the workforce skills gaps in existing provision.

These new wind farms and solar farms now have contracts to Improving the Skillnet Ireland FSP thematic priorities include: provide electricity at a price guaranteed for up to the next 16.5 years – the actual duration will depend on how quickly Renewable Electricity • Initiatives that expediate recovery by business mid and post developers can build their projects. Covid-19; Support Scheme • Initiatives that address emerging business models, All projects successful in the auction must commence employment roles and career pathways and the future of commercial operation by 31 December 2023 to comply with work and workforce development; Although the results of the first auction round the RESS Terms and Conditions. • Initiatives that support digital transformation and the Credit: Conor McCabe were very positive it is clear that the auction application of new technologies and automation; design can be improved to deliver better Once operational projects will need to contribute €2 per MWh • Policy-aligned initiatives that address transversal, technical Paul Healy, Chief Executive of Skillnet Ireland, joins Dr David Connolly and Ross into a community benefit fund for the duration of their contracts. results and IWEA believes as much as 6-700 and cross sectoral skills including management development. McNally from IWEA at the launch of Harnessing Our Potential. For the 19 successful wind farms alone this will work out at MW of wind energy could be ready for an almost €3 million per annum supporting local communities and onshore auction in 2020. The report, which was carried out by The Carbon Trust gave an the energy transition. CASE STUDY – ENERGYPRO overview of the market and the scale of the opportunity for Ireland’s EnergyPro recently featured in a case study for Skillnet Ireland on offshore wind energy supply chain in terms of monetary value and We have highlighted three immediate steps the benefits of Green Tech Skillnet Membership. job creation. CLIMATE ACTION PLAN Minister Eamon Ryan TD could take to ensure Ireland’s target under the Climate Action Plan is to provide 70 an even better RESS 2: It also outlined areas in which the industry can work collaboratively with the Government and relevant State agencies in order to per cent of our electricity from renewable energy. To achieve • Industry and policymakers should be this target we need to connect an additional 4,000 MW of ensure the sustainable supply of human resource to the industry onshore wind and at least 1,500, more realistically 2,500, of brought together as soon as possible to for the long term (i.e. in areas such as training, apprenticeships, solar energy by 2030. review the auction design to learn from the schemes etc.). experience and identify ways to reduce The report also included an assessment of the skills and workforce This RESS auction round provided contracts to 479 MW prices in the next auction; landscape in Ireland and gathered feedback from relevant of onshore wind and 796 MW of solar, which represents a • The Government should confirm that there stakeholders in the offshore wind sector. significant step towards those targets and the decarbonisation of our energy supply. will be auctions for both onshore and offshore renewable energy in 2021; It received substantial media coverage and featured on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland, bringing a much-needed focus to the The auction also represents a good deal for Irish electricity • The Government should set up an challenges and opportunities that will come Ireland’s way as we consumers with prices significantly lower than the support price independently chaired task-force to identify develop an offshore wind energy industry. available under the current scheme, REFIT, which is €80.25 per Ronan O’Meara (centre) with Brian Kennedy and Simon Cooke at the 2020 Irish MWh and, unlike the prices in the new scheme, index linked. the policies needed to significantly reduce Wind Industry Awards where EnergyPro won the award for Outstanding Innovation. “This research report supported by Green Tech Skillnet/Skillnet the price of renewable electricity. Ireland harnesses the critical industry intelligence that will inform However, industry experts have pointed out that the prices in EnergyPro relies on a small but highly skilled team of 12 people and shape skills and talent needs of the sector over the coming RESS 1 could have been much lower. The decision was made who between them have deep domain knowledge across several years.” Paul Healy, Chief Executive, Skillnet Ireland not to index-link bids, as happens in Britain, so developers specialist areas including energy generation, Government policy, were obliged to bid in prices that covered likely inflation over financial management, data analytics and software development. It For more information on programmes/courses with Green Tech the next 15 years. Several industry sources have confirmed this relies on the Green Tech Skillnet to power its team’s learning. Skillnet contact Jeanette Gill [email protected]. added an additional 10 -€12 onto bids.

28 THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 29 • Competitive RESS PPA Offerings • PPAs & Ro u te - to - M a r ke t • Trading & Balancing Services • Corporate PPAs • Forecasting Services • Green Certificate Trading Renewable & • Supplier-Lite • Licenced Gas Shipper & Supplier

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ByrneWallace IWEA Advert 230820.indd 1 23/08/2020 23:57:40 GENERATION TABLE AUTUMN 2020 LINING UP ONLINE The year 2020 marks the end of REFIT and the beginning of Irelands auction-based system. With that IWEA has decided to take a different approach to the Generation Table. August marked the publication of the provisional results of the first auction under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) with a total of 479 MW of onshore wind, equating to 1,469 GWh of energy, being successful. This amounts to 19 new wind farms which are listed below. DURING COVID

Thanks for joining us over the summer at our many webinars – you really embraced the digital format during Covid restrictions Today, IWEA’s database indicates that there is a total wind generation capacity of 5,511 MW on the Island broken down into 4,235 and attended these in large numbers. We will continue to keep you up-to-date on key policy developments, industry trends and MW in the Republic of Ireland and 1,276 MW in Northern Ireland as of the end of August 2020. Combined with existing CPPAs and learnings in the months ahead. RESS1, the capacity in the Republic of Ireland is set to rise to at least 4972 MW by 2023, which may rise slightly as the final phases of some REFIT projects are energised. Here is a selection of some of the online events and webinars you attended over the summer.

The table below gives a projection of how the Republic of Ireland’s installed capacity could increase with upcoming RESS and Corporate PPA projects. All information displayed has been gathered through contacting various stakeholders within the industry, System Operators (EirGrid/ESBN) and Government Departments.

Current Corporate Power Purchase Agreements

CPPA Offer CPPA Wind Farm Name County MEC (MW) Developer Energisation Year Takers

Esk Wind Farm Cork 24 Invis Energy Amazon 2020 Meenbog Wind Farm Donegal 91 Invis Energy Amazon 2021 Lisheen 3 Tipperary 28 Brookfield Facebook 2022 Ardderoo WF Galway 115 Invis Energy Amazon 2022 Total 258

Successful RESS Projects

Owner/ Cumulative Installed Wind Farm Name County MEC (MW) Developer in ROI (MW)

Installed Capacity (August 2020) 4235

Clogerhavaddy 2 Donegal 10.8 ABO Wind 4246

Cloghan Offaly 34 Statkraft 4280

Cloncreen Offaly 75 BnM 4355

Coolberrin Cavan 21 Energia 4376

Crossmore Clare 15 Energia 4391

Knockeenbui Cork 13.8 Independent 4405

Knocknamona Waterford 30.4 Ecopower 4435

Lenalea Donegal 30.5 Coillte / SSE Renewables 4466

Mully Graffy Donegal 29.9 SMR 4495

Oweninny 2 Mayo 83 BnM, ESB 4578

Sheskin Mayo 16.8 ABO Wind 4595

Taghart Cavan 23 Statkraft 4618

Upperchurch Tipperary 73 Ecopower 4691

Sub-10MW 23 Mixed 4714

TOTAL 479.2 4756

If you missed any of our webinars, you can view them here at https://iwea.com/events

32 THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION 33 A WIND OF CHANGE Despite these unprecedented times, for Green is at the core many this Autumn has brought with it a decades, thanks to wind energy alone. Given the UK’s 2050 net sense of renewal, writes Steven Agnew, zero ambition it is clear that power generation has a critical role to play in achieving this target. NIRIG believes we should aim Head of NIRIG. to fully decarbonise by 2040 with 80 per cent by 2030 being a of our Future key milestone on that journey. As lockdown restrictions ease, pupils go back to school and many of us return to office life, focus has shifted on how best Research by SONI, the Electricity Transmission System to support economic recovery as we adapt to the ‘new normal’. Operator for Northern Ireland, highlights that these ambitions can be realised in its Tomorrow’s Energy Scenarios Northern A ‘Green Recovery’ can play an important part of this much Ireland 2020 (TESNI) report. It includes an Accelerated needed economic growth. While other industries seek Ambition pathway outlining a more urgent and rapid effort to government support to survive, with the right policy framework decarbonise the energy sector but also outlines that a critical the renewables sector can thrive. factor is deciding on which scenario to follow linked to the pace of change we can achieve.

Carn Hill windfarm, Antrim. Photographer: Keith Arkins

At NIRIG, we are developing an economic assessment showcasing the multi-million pound scale of private investment The onus therefore must be on creating a cohesive Energy a new renewables target could leverage in Northern Ireland, Strategy that harnesses the opportunities renewables presents including in the local areas where developments take place. both now as part of the green recovery, and in the future. NIRIG is working closely with the Department for the Economy This sense of renewal is also evident in the work of NIRIG. As on the forthcoming Energy Strategy and we are grateful for an organisation we continue to attract new members and are their collaboration. We believe their ambitions reflect our own delighted to welcome Harland & Wolff, Belfast Harbour, ERG, but are mindful of the impact of further delays. It will likely be Action Renewables and MPG Wind. Spring 2021 before the strategy goes out to consultation and Autumn next year before it is finally published. That being said, This continued membership growth has also helped us grow DfE has advised they will progress with urgent issues now and our ambitions. With 47.7 per cent of electricity consumption we intend to continue to meet with them regularly, to represent coming from renewable sources over the last year, Northern our member’s interests. Ireland has surpassed its 2020 target, something the sector is immensely proud of. The onus must be on creating a cohesive This figure also demonstrates the significant role renewables Energy Strategy that harnesses the play in meeting our energy needs and addressing the climate crisis. However, it also demonstrates that we are only at the opportunities renewables presents both beginning of what we can achieve. In consultation with our now as part of the green recovery, and members, we have called on the Northern Ireland Executive to in the future. set a target for 80 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, laying out the benefits through a robust response to the Department While the coronavirus pandemic has had devasting impact, for the Economy’s (DfE) recent Energy Strategy consultation. touching each of our lives in some way, we should take encouragement from the behavioural changes we collectively We have called on the Northern Ireland made to protect ourselves. Together we demonstrated that in Executive to set a target for 80 per cent the face of an emergency, we could quickly adapt and roll out the necessary changes. We can and must do the same as we face renewable electricity by 2030. the critical climate crisis. We have an unparalleled opportunity to make the necessary environmental improvements for all our While emissions continue to rise in some sectors, research futures. We cannot let it pass. carried out by Baringa in its The Wind Dividend report shows that 9 million tonnes of CO2 were saved in NI over the last two Naturally Driven 34 THE IRISH WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION “Through its ambitious accelerated development pipeline, the company intends to construct more than 1 GW of new wind energy by 2030. This impressive wind energy development pipeline currently sees 15 onshore projects at various stages of development and will see the company invest more than €1 billon in low carbon electricity generation infrastructure across Ireland.”

In the past 12 months, as part of its accelerated development low carbon generating project portfolio base it is committed Bord na Móna Plans to Deliver 1 GW of New Wind Energy pipeline the company has achieved several significant to attracting and investing in resources and expertise to milestones: assist the company grow its low carbon businesses and to the Power System By 2030 deliver the development pipeline of 1 GW by 2030. Bord na Móna is an iconic commercial semi-state company To achieve this Bord na Móna will significantly increase its • Phase 1 of the Oweninny Wind Farm in Co. Mayo, a joint that was established almost 90 years ago, to develop existing renewable energy asset base beyond the current venture with ESB, entered commercial operational - Electricity’s role in delivering a sustainable energy future will Ireland’s peat resources for the economic benefit of Ireland installed capacity of almost 400 MW. This will be achieved adding an additional 93MW to the company’s wind ensure renewable energy is the key driver of growth in Bord and to enhance security of energy supply. In recent times, through investments in wind, solar pv and biomethane energy generating capacity. While the procurement na Móna, proving a very significant market opportunity the business has gone through radical change, moving away production capacity. The company’s asset base will also phase is well advanced for Phase 2 of the Oweninny to leverage our existing land assets, project development from peat, and focusing on renewable energy, recycling, and continue to support the deployment of renewable capacity project (83MW), a 31-turbine development, which skills and technical experience in operating renewable peatland rehabilitation operations. Having completed much through the provision of additional flexible capacity to once completed will see the Oweninny Wind Farm as energy assets, as we contribute to the economy wide of this radical change agenda, the company has a brighter, support grid system services. Through its ambitious the largest on-shore development on the Irish power decarbonisation effort. sustainable future and is committed to investing to deliver accelerated development pipeline, the company intends to system. low carbon energy solutions in Ireland, thereby continuing construct more than 1 GW of new wind energy by 2030. This • RESS-1 success for both Cloncreen Wind Farm and Bord na Móna Energy Generation Portfolio its pivotal role in contributing to the State’s energy security. impressive wind energy development pipeline currently Phase 2 of Oweninny Wind Farm • Construction commenced on the 75 MW Cloncreen Operational MW sees 15 onshore projects at various stages of development Drehid landfill Gas Facility, Co. Kildare 5 Wind Farm in Co. Offaly. It is one of the largest Bord na Móna believes that green electricity will play a crucial and will see the company invest more than €1 billon in low Bellacorick Wind Farm, Co. Mayo 6.45 role in delivering a sustainable energy future for the country carbon electricity generation infrastructure across Ireland. In projects to clear in the recent RESS auction and it is Bruckana Wind Farm, Co. Tipperary/Kilkenny 42 and is focused on using its strategic landbank and skill set early 2021 the company will unveil a new funding strategy expected to be one the first operational wind farms in Sliabh Bawn Wind Farm, Co. Roscommon to significantly expand its renewable energy portfolio. The to support its strategic objectives in the green energy sector. Ireland under the scheme. (JV with Coillte and Greencoat Renewables) 64 company has been a leader in the Irish renewables sector • Planning permission was secured for the 96 MW Mountlucas Wind Farm Co. Offaly 84 for some time, having been involved in the development of Derryadd Wind Farm in Co. Longford Oweninny Wind Farm Phase 1, Co. Mayo (JV with ESB) 93 “Bord na Móna’s assets currently Cushaling Peaking Power Plant, Co. Offaly 116 Ireland’s first ever commercial wind farm on its Bellacorick • A planning application was submitted for the 85 MW Derrinlough Wind Farm in Co. Offaly *Edenderry Power Station, Co. Offaly 120 Bog in Co Mayo in 1992. produce approximately 10% of the *co-fired with Biomass renewable electricity generated in • Plans were announced to develop the Ballivor Wind Bord na Móna’s landbank has been involved in the provision Farm in Counties Meath/Westmeath and Oweninny In Construction of energy for the state for decades and today the company the Irish energy market and the Wind Farm Phase 3 in Co. Mayo – resulting in the Cloncreen Wind Farm, Co. Offaly 75 Oweninny Wind Farm Phase 2, Co. Mayo (JV with ESB) 99 has a renewed focus on contributing to energy security, company’s expansion plans in this potential addition of a combined estimated 200 MW utilising its landbank for the development of large scale to the company’s development portfolio. Consented infrastructure projects, that will make a positive contribution space sees it on track to become • Planning permission was secured for the development Timahoe North Solar Farm, Co. Kildare (JV with ESB) 70 to Ireland’s economy-wide decarbonisation objective. This one of Ireland’s leading renewable of a 70 MW Solar PV Farm on Bord na Móna lands Derryadd Wind Farm, Co. Longford 96 renewed focus can be traced to 2018 when the company in Co. Kildare. The project will be developed on a JV Planning restructured and reinvested to build a more sustainable energy generators by 2030.” basis with ESB. Derrinlough Wind Farm, Co. Offaly 85 future for Bord na Móna. The company announced its new Bord na Móna’s ambitious 1 GW development pipeline Pre-Planning/Under Assessment strategy “Brown to Green” that involved a fundamental “Through its ambitious accelerated Ballivor Wind Farm, Co. Meath/Westmeath and is made possible by the company’s 80,000-hectare repositioning of the semi-state, moving from its traditional Oweninny Wind Farm Phase 3, Co. Mayo 200 ‘brown’ generation to a more sustainable ‘green’ future. landbank which allows it to accommodate projects of development pipeline, the company Other Wind & Solar Projects, various locations across the Bord na Móna’s assets currently produce approximately significant scale. Its development pipeline seeks to generate intends to construct more than 1 company’s 80,000ha landbank 700 10% of the renewable electricity generated in the Irish renewable wind power in appropriate places within this energy market and the company’s expansion plans in this landbank. The development pipeline is designed to ensure GW of new wind energy by 2030. space sees it on track to become one of Ireland’s leading that the company makes a major contribution to Irelands This impressive wind energy renewable energy generators by 2030. Climate Action Plan 2019, which has set a target of 8.2GW of onshore wind capacity by 2030. Achievement of this development pipeline currently sees target will require up to 4 GW of additional onshore wind 15 onshore projects at various stages “Bord na Móna has a brighter, capacity to be constructed. The 1 GW development pipeline sustainable future and is set by Bord na Móna, will deliver 25% of this target and the of development and will see the company has made an excellent start on this journey by company invest more than €1 billon committed to investing to deliver recently securing more than 25% of the volume procured in low carbon energy solutions in the first RESS auction. in low carbon electricity generation infrastructure across Ireland.” Ireland, thereby continuing its Additionally, the company’s plans will play a significant role in contributing to the country’s national renewable pivotal role in contributing to the Bord na Móna has a highly skilled cross functional business John Reilly, Head of Powergen Development, Bord na Móna State’s energy security.” electricity production and carbon emissions reduction unit incorporating engineering, planning, communications, targets by 2030, while also supporting a growing economy finance, legal, technical and project management and population. capabilities that has a proven track record in planning, executing, and delivering large infrastructure projects. Over the coming months, as the business continues to expand its Naturally Driven

IRISHWIND

Keep an eye on our website iwea.com and on our social media channels for details of our exciting events soon to be announced.