Ireland opens incentive scheme for small-scale renewables

Ireland has kicked off the second phase of its Small-Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (SRESS), aiming to offer incentives to small solar and wind projects undertaken by local communities and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME).

The programme will be open to projects with capacities of between 50 kW to 6 MW, the government said.

Eligible projects will be entitled to fixed tariffs across six categories – three community rates and three SME rates, covering both solar and wind. The guaranteed feed-in-premium tariff will be allocated without an auction, with grid-scale community photovoltaic (PV) projects receiving the highest support.

Specifically, renewable energy communities (RECs) will receive EUR 150 (USD 163.2) per MWh for solar projects of less than 1 MW and EUR 140/MWh for solar projects within the 1 MW-6 MW range. Wind schemes of up to 6 MW will get EUR 90/MWh.

The tariffs for SMEs are set at EUR 130/MWh for solar projects under 1 MW and EUR 120/MWh for schemes in the 1 MW-6 MW category. The allocation for wind projects stands at EUR 80/MWh.

Under its Climate Action Plan, Ireland seeks to back at least 500 MW of local community-based renewable energy projects by 2030. The first round of the SRESS programme was launched in July 2023 and delivers grants to renewable self-consumption projects of 50 kW-1MW.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.088)

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