Ireland has scheduled the launch of the 5th round of its Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), or RESS 5, for May 29, 2025, according to the timeline and terms and conditions unveiled by the state-owned grid operator EirGrid.
Solar, onshore wind, hybrid wind and solar, hybrid wind and solar and storage, and hybrid solar and storage are the eligible technologies for this round, along with hybrid wind and storage, hydro, waste to energy, biomass, and biogas. The hybrid solar and storage category can either involve solar thermal or solar PV technologies connected behind-the-meter.
All eligible projects must possess a planning permission for the construction of the plant. These will need to be decommissioned before the end of the RESS 5 support period.
State support to the winning facilities will be available as a 2-way floating feed-in-premium (FIP). Each qualified applicant will specify an offer price which, if successful, will become the strike price for that particular project.
For this auction round, EirGrid offers an availability provision called Unrealized Available Energy Compensation (UAEC), which is intended to de-risk a RESS 5 project’s exposure to uncertainty. This will enable support to be provided on the basis of a quantity closer to availability rather than energy actually produced. It forms part of the overall support provided under RESS 5, alongside the FIP support for energy actually generated.
The UAEC payments at the strike price will be made in respect of hours for which the price is negative, but not for any generation during periods of negative prices.
Winning generators will also be required to set up a Community Benefit Fund to contribute €2/MWh for the benefit of the community.
RESS is the Irish government’s flagship program to achieve the target of at least 80% renewable energy in its mix by 2030, delivered by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).
Round 4 of the RESS was concluded in September 2024 when the government awarded 1.33 GW onshore wind and solar PV capacity (see Ireland Concludes RESS 4 Auction Round With Over 2 GWh capacity).
