Dublin: Irish government confirms terms and conditions for ORESS 1
Nov 25, 2022 | Posted by MadalineDunn
Following the Irish government's approval of the terms and conditions of ORESS 1, a huge auction for offshore wind, 2.5GW of renewable energy could be added to the grid, enough to power 2.5 million Irish homes with green electricity. According to reports, at least three offshore energy auctions are currently planned for this decade.
This is good news for the Irish grid, which has struggled in recent years as data center growth has ballooned. Research shows that Ireland's data center electricity use has more than tripled since 2015, and was responsible for a staggering 14% of total electricity consumption in 2021. Further to this, forecasts by Ireland's electricity grid operator Eirgrid have projected that data centers could end up consuming as much as 23% to 30% of the country's electricity by 2030, which equates to 10 times the projected European average. Subsequently, the grid introduced a de facto moratorium on new data center grid connections in the Dublin area.
Speaking about what this all means for Ireland, the Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said: "The publication of these ORESS 1 Terms and Conditions is another massive step forward – for offshore wind, for Irish climate leadership and towards Ireland's future as an international green energy hub,"
Adding: "The first stage of this transformative auction will start before Christmas and it sets us on a path to powering many more of our homes and businesses from our own green energy resources over the coming years."
This is good news for the Irish grid, which has struggled in recent years as data center growth has ballooned. Research shows that Ireland's data center electricity use has more than tripled since 2015, and was responsible for a staggering 14% of total electricity consumption in 2021. Further to this, forecasts by Ireland's electricity grid operator Eirgrid have projected that data centers could end up consuming as much as 23% to 30% of the country's electricity by 2030, which equates to 10 times the projected European average. Subsequently, the grid introduced a de facto moratorium on new data center grid connections in the Dublin area.
Speaking about what this all means for Ireland, the Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said: "The publication of these ORESS 1 Terms and Conditions is another massive step forward – for offshore wind, for Irish climate leadership and towards Ireland's future as an international green energy hub,"
Adding: "The first stage of this transformative auction will start before Christmas and it sets us on a path to powering many more of our homes and businesses from our own green energy resources over the coming years."
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