Sail away: Offshore wind vs. RESS

Last week the European Commission proposed a “Climate Law” enshrining in legislation the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. In this week’s blog, we consider the role of wind in achieving this goal, and Irelands role in the European Green Deal.

As we would expect, the green deal identifies renewable energy sources as playing an essential role in a carbon-neutral Europe, specifically setting the ambition to develop the full potential of Europe’s offshore wind energy. Undoubtedly, many more GW of renewable energy will be needed, in fact, according to WindEurope’s CEO Giles Dickson “Climate neutrality and the Green Deal require Europe to install over twice as much new wind energy each year as it managed in 2019.”

Related thinking

Low carbon generation

Head to Head: CfD vs RESS

2022 has been busy for renewable developers in Great Britain and Ireland, with both the fourth allocation round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme and the second round of the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) concluding this summer. We compared the latest results of the CfD and RESS schemes...

Low carbon generation

Energy System Reform: Ofgem shares plans for Britain’s energy system

Against the backdrop of record high and volatile energy prices, Ofgem set out on 8 July its view on key aspects of the GB energy system where it considers significant reform is required to deliver a resilient, low cost, low carbon energy sector. Recent developments in the energy market, such...

Low carbon generation

PSO Levy 2022/23: RESS to the Rescue

This week we look at how renewable generation is putting money back in consumers’ pockets - a trend which, based on the power price forecast from our All-Island Forward Curve report, is expected to continue until 2027. Last week the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) published their final decision...

Low carbon generation

What’s in store? Our analysis of the co-location development pipeline

Amid underlying volatility in wholesale power prices, opportunities for access to wider flexibility revenue streams, and the impact of price cannibalisation, the case for co-location for renewable energy assets is growing. As part of Cornwall Insight’s Renewables Pipeline Tracker service, a case study is included in each report’s release based...

Low carbon generation

A collection of resources on net zero – Net Zero Week 2022

For Net Zero Week 2022, we released a range of resources to help you on your journey to net zero. For convenience, we have put them all together in a handy Resource Report. To read the full collection of resources, please log in to your account or sign up for...

Low carbon generation

CfD Auction Secures Greatest Amount Of Renewable Capacity To Date

Yesterday, the government released the results of the fourth round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, securing almost 11GW of renewable capacity across 93 projects, nearly double the 5.8GW awarded in Allocation Round 3 in 2019. The greatest capacity – at 7.0GW - has been secured from new offshore wind projects,...

Net zero corporates and ESG

Q2 2022 All-Island Power Market Outlook to 2030 overview

Our latest All-Island Power Market Outlook to 2030 report provides a taster of the insights from our Q2 All-Island Forward Curve report. Changes to the SEM, GB and European Markets over the last quarter have been incorporated into our models, including delays in commissioning and new capacity plans, to revise...

Low carbon generation

RESS 2 – Five key insights

Higher costs drive up auction clearing price It’s been a tumultuous couple of years since RESS 1. As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine continues, stresses and strains are being felt across many sectors of the economy, and infrastructure is no exception. Pent up...