Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We came to this change because, in a sense, the auction-based system was not working. In the early 2000s, there was a similar competitive bidding system. One of the several reasons projects ran into difficulty was that people were bidding down so tightly that they were not able to get financing and get their projects built. This was a particular issue in the past two to three years. With the war in Ukraine, coming out of Covid and supply chain constraints, the price of steel, PV pounds and contractors increased. Indeed, the price of every element increased. This meant that communities were not able to deliver the projects as expected.

All going well, we will see those four projects delivered under RESS 1. The eight in RESS 2 are progressing. It is not guaranteed that every single one of them will reach the point of final delivery, but we want and need them.

Seeing that the current system was not working drove us towards a different approach, one that has removed the financing risk in the sense that applicants know their price before they start their projects. This financing certainty is helpful. Financing is one of the obstacles. Grid connections and planning are others that we need to overcome.

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