Bord Gáis Energy is joining forces with French giant ÉDF to bid to build a wind farm off the Republic’s southeast coast in a multibillion euro deal.
The State this week sought offers from competing businesses to build an offshore wind farm capable of generating 900 mega watts (MW) of electricity, enough to serve almost one million homes.
The auction will be the first to open a designated area off the southeast coast to power companies.
It is understood that Bord Gáis Energy, which is owned by UK energy giant Centrica, joined with ÉDF Renewables to bid for a contract to build and run the wind farm.
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ÉDF Renewables, is part of Électricité de France, one of Europe’s biggest energy companies. It has businesses in multiple countries that generated sales of almost €120 billion last year and profits of €15 billion.
The partnership between the pair is understood to be equal. It is estimated that the venture could invest €4 billion to €5 billion if it succeeds in getting a deal at the auction.
The auction was expected to lure several bidders on a similar scale to the Bord Gáis Energy-ÉDF partnership.
According to State-owned national grid company EirGrid, which is overseeing the auction, the process opened on Monday and closed on Thursday.
EirGrid will announce the result next week, on November 27th.
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If the Bord Gáis Energy-ÉDF partnership does not succeed, it is expected that the pair will maintain the relationship for other projects.
EirGrid will run the auction under the State’s offshore renewable energy support scheme (ORESS).
Through this, power companies bid to generate and supply electricity at a guaranteed fixed price.
The auction will favour the lowest price offered with the idea of getting the best value for electricity customers, who guarantee the price through the public service obligation on their bills.
If the market price for electricity falls below the guaranteed price, customers pay the difference through the public service obligation.
If the market price exceeds the guaranteed price, this is refunded to customers through a credit on their bills.
The first offshore auction agreed a price of €86.05 in 2023 a mega watt hour, the unit in which electricity is traded, with the successful bidders.
That covered power plants destined for the Irish Sea and off the west coast. The rate was well below wholesale electricity prices at the time.
This week’s auction was the first for the so-called Tonn Nua (Irish for new wave) second phase of offshore wind development, which will be in a designated area off the southeast coast.
Government climate targets aim to have power plants capable of generating 5,000MW built off the coast by 2030.
However, most industry figures say that planning and other delays mean the State will miss this target. EirGrid this year predicted that around 1,300MW would be built by 2030.
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