SSE welcomes the long-anticipated publication by the Government today of Ireland’s new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), which is designed to support the development of new renewable energy generation in Ireland and help meet national and international decarbonisation targets out to 2030.
Stephen Wheeler, SSE Ireland Managing Director, said:
“We are pleased that the Government’s new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme will provide continued support for onshore wind energy and opens up support for offshore wind energy in upcoming competitive auction rounds, which we have been advocating for some time. Also, as Ireland’s leading provider of community funding through renewable energy, we welcome the increased focus on community engagement and benefit under the new scheme.
“SSE believes offshore wind technology is best-placed to deliver the large-scale renewable generation Ireland rapidly needs to meet our binding international renewable energy targets, mitigate against fines for falling short of our climate action goals, and create a low-carbon future.
“However, while the new RESS is a significant step forward in Ireland’s support for offshore wind energy, SSE has significant concerns that the potential size of the future individual auctions as outlined today may be too small to allow large-scale offshore wind projects to commercially progress forward. On this basis, SSE encourages the Government to implement a technology-specific category for offshore wind which it has included as an option in today’s outline design.
“As a developer committed to investing in lower carbon generation for Ireland, SSE will continue to engage closely with all key stakeholders as the new RESS is introduced to ensure that any potential obstacles to achieving Ireland’s low-carbon ambitions can be overcome.”