The renewables sector cautiously welcomed the 24 July decision on the High-Level Design (HLD) of the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS). The HLD’s emphasis on the first RESS auction supporting projects that could be built out by the end of 2020 energised the solar community. The Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) characterised it as a “welcome first step” but found the target of 55% renewable electricity (RES-E) by 2030 to be lacking ambition when compared to other countries.
RESS will have a significant influence on the volume and nature of the renewable generation connected to the Irish system over the next decade. The common theme of most initial responses, including ours, was general positivity about the framework, but a recognition that the detailed arrangements around each auction of RESS support would determine its impact.
In this blog, we attempt to draw out some of those possible effects around a number of themes: market pricing, Public Service Obligation (PSO) Levy, technology composition and lessons learned. First, however, we should summarise the headlines from the announcement.
