Orsted has partnered with Dublin-based renewable energy developer Terra Solar to develop a portfolio of solar projects with a capacity of up to 400 MW to power over 90,000 Irish homes, thereby bringing Orsted’s solar pipeline to over 600 MW in Ireland.
“The extension of our existing collaboration with Terra Solar on the development of these projects will contribute to Orsted’s global goal of 17.5 GW of onshore renewables by 2030,” said TJ Hunter, Senior Director of Development and Operations in the UK and Ireland at Orsted.
The portfolio of projects supporting Ireland’s 8 GW Climate Action Plan solar energy target is expected to be completed before 2030, subject to grid route consent and a grid offer. The renewable electricity produced by the projects can be marketed through future RESS auctions and corporate power purchase agreements.
“Solar energy is an essential component for enabling the Irish power system to run entirely on green energy,” added TJ Hunter. “Ireland has seen several amber alerts on warm summer days with low wind speeds, the cost of electricity is too high due to over-reliance on fossil fuels, and the carbon intensity of Ireland’s electricity is among the highest in Europe and to solve these issues and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, we need to grow solar energy in parallel with onshore wind, offshore wind, and energy storage.”
The investment is followed by Orsted’s plan to develop a proposed 740 MW solar farm and associated battery storage in Nottinghamshire.
