Shannon Energy powered by Obton is delighted to announce that it has been provisionally awarded all of the 11 solar energy projects it submitted to the first round of the Government’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS). The results of the process are scheduled to be finalised on 10 September.

The Danish-Irish joint venture’s successful projects in the RESS process represent an initial investment of €100 million in the Irish solar energy sector, which when developed will deliver a total of 120 megawatts (MW) of solar power for homes throughout the country.

The 11 projects are situated in eight counties throughout Ireland, with sites located in Cork, Galway, Longford, Meath, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford.

The combined 120 MW of power generated will be enough to fulfil the yearly energy requirements of up to 20,000 households.

The projects will be fully operational and supplying renewable energy to the Irish power grid by 2022 and it is expected that more than 200 jobs will be created in the construction of the solar photovoltaic (PV) technology.

Shannon Energy powered by Obton is a joint venture between Obton, a Danish solar photovoltaic (PV) business, and its Irish partner Shannon Energy.

The project portfolio that has been successful in the provisional results of RESS 1 marks the first phase in the joint venture’s overall €300 million investment to provide over 500 MW of renewable solar power in Ireland over the next five years.

Commenting on the provisional RESS results, Anders Marcus, CEO of Obton, said:

“We are delighted that all of our 11 projects have been successful in the provisional results of the public auction process. These 11 projects are an important vote of confidence in our investment in sustainable energy generation in Ireland and in our partnership with Shannon Energy. Together with Shannon Energy we have secured a pipeline of projects that will bring the total capacity of our overall portfolio to more than 500 MW, which will be submitted in subsequent rounds of the RESS process.”

Noel Shannon, CEO of Shannon Energy, said:

“Shannon Energy powered by Obton are delighted to have been provisionally awarded all of our 11 projects in the first phase of the RESS process. We believe the result represents the quality of this initial portfolio and we are looking forward to working with all of our partners to move forward with these projects and bring more renewable energy to the grid in Ireland.”

Gerry Shannon, Chairman of Shannon Energy, added:

“This success with our first 11 projects marks a significant milestone for Shannon Energy powered by Obton and reflects a huge vote of confidence in the Obton fund's decision to invest in Ireland. We look forward to working with our partners to construct all these projects as quickly as possible and help the Government achieve its goal of 70% electricity production from renewable sources by 2030.”