Ørsted-ESB Joint Venture Wins 900 MW Irish Offshore Wind Tender

The joint venture between ESB and Ørsted has been provisionally awarded development rights for the 900 MW fixed-bottom offshore wind farm at the Tonn Nua site by the Irish Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment.

The two-way Contract for Difference (CfD) has been awarded at a strike price of EUR 98.719 per MWh. The partially indexed CfD will run for 20 years from wind farm commissioning, expected in the mid-2030s. 

The contract for difference is intended to support the development of a 900 MW fixed-bottom offshore wind farm at the Tonn Nua site, which has been designated by the Irish government as the sole area available to bidders under the Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS), Ireland’s second offshore wind auction.

“Offshore wind will play an important part in the future Irish energy system ensuring green, affordable and secure energy. We will continue to work with our joint venture partner ESB to carefully assess and progress this early-stage development opportunity, including ensuring that the project lives up to our value creation criteria,” said Alana Kühne, Head of Region Europe Development at Ørsted.

The next step for the offshore wind project, which will be built off the coast of County Waterford, is to seek a Maritime Consent and Marine Usage Licence from the Irish Maritime Area Regulatory Authority in order to commence surveying and assessment ahead of submitting a planning application for the development.

The final investment decision is expected around 2031, and the first power in the mid-2030s.

“ESB is delighted with the outcome of the ORESS Tonn Nua auction. It secures a clear pathway for the development of a significant project off the coast of County Waterford marking another important step toward Ireland’s renewable energy and Net Zero ambitions. We look forward to working with our partners to deliver a project that provides significant energy security and price certainty for Irish consumers,” said Jim Dollard, Executive Director for Generation & Trading at ESB.

Ireland’s transmission system operator (TSO), EirGrid, will build the transmission assets (offshore and onshore substations and export cables). The TSO recently completed the first phase of marine and coastal surveys along Ireland’s south coast.

The survey work is being carried out by Fugro as part of EirGrid’s Powering Up Offshore – South Coast project and under the TSO’s Offshore Marine Survey Framework, with subcontractors TechWorks Marine and Green Rebel conducting metocean and environmental surveys, respectively.