Green Island: Investing in Renewables delivered by Cornwall Insight

The market for renewables is shifting in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Following the changes wrought by the SEM, we will see renewable auctions in Ireland, new renewable electricity policy in Northern Ireland. We are also seeing emergent business models such as corporate PPAs and subsidy free. The impacts for Ireland’s renewable electricity sector of the EU’s Clean Energy Package will be profound as will Ireland’s target of 70% renewable electricity by 2030.

This course provides insight for those looking to navigate this landscape, it reviews the different business models and assesses what would be needed to make them work. It provides an in-depth understanding of how renewables can build an effective business case in this environment.

• Project developers
• Investors
• Energy suppliers and off-takers
• Professional service companies

Introduction & welcome

Case study:

• Renewable business cases. Analysing investment opportunities in wind, solar, hybrid and offshore wind farms

Renewables market & policy

• Sector overview – structure and governance

Policy in NI and ROI

• Targets and directives Future policy in NI
• RESS and REFiT in ROI
• EU Clean Energy Package

Regulatory framework: connections, regulation and planning 

• Current connections and charging principles
• Changing connections policy
  •  De-minimis changes
  • Enduring connection policy
• PSO Levy
• Renewables zoning

SEM – Renewables, Trading and Balancing Risk

• Role of the Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and system balancing
• Managing renewables on the system
• Balancing tools for the TSOs
  • Balancing market and DS3
• Concept of balancing responsibility
  • Imbalance charges
  • Impacts on PPAs 
• Impacts on renewable projects
  • PPAs and reference prices
  • Market prices under Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff (REFIT)
  • Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) auctions
  • NIRO treatment
  • Renewables: SEM experience

Exercise: Case study review 

• Assess the different investment pathways against the sector, regulatory and market context

Routes to market

• Wholesale pricing trends
• PPA suitability
  • PPA market and structures
  • Standard terms and conditions
• Corporate PPAs
• Merchant projects
• Bankability of different routes to market

Assessing the business models

• Forecasting revenues from renewable sources
  • Onshore wind
  • Solar Hybrid projects
  • Offshore wind
  • Future technology mix
  • Changing business models
  • Discussion & Conclusion

Final discussion on case study

Conall Bolger

Conall is Cornwall Insight’s Head of Ireland and has held consultancy, management and regulatory roles in the Irish and Northern Irish energy sectors. He has significant wind-related experience including onshore wind in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada and Poland and offshore wind development in the United Kingdom.

In addition to leading the development of Cornwall Insight’s business and services in Ireland and Northern Ireland, Conall has led and delivered much of our public and inhouse courses as they relate to Ireland and Northern Ireland. He has trained audiences on the Irish market in Dublin, Derry, London, Cardiff and Dusseldorf.

He has advised a range of organisations on the impact of the changes to the SEM Energy Trading Arrangements for a wide range of assets and investments. He has supported a number of companies with making submissions to the Capacity Remuneration Mechanism (CRM). Conall is a member of Irish Wind Energy Association’s Markets Committee and regularly briefs the Major Energy Users Council NI on SEM-related matters.

He has worked with and for a wide variety of Irish and Northern Irish companies and organisations ranging from independent renewables developers (such as Statkraft, Airtricity and Mainstream Renewable Power) and utility players (ESB Networks, NIE Networks and Bord na Móna) to regulators (the Utility Regulator and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities).

Evie Doherty

Evie is an experienced energy industry professional with a background in renewables policy, energy trading, finance, and risk.

As senior consultant with Cornwall Insight she has worked with a variety of clients including trading companies, investors and government policy makers. The diversity of her background combined with a high standard of excellence and attention to detail means that her delivery of projects garners a high degree of client satisfaction.

Examples of projects she has led include; advising the Department for the Economy (DfE) Northern Ireland on future renewables energy policy options as part of the development of the next Strategic Energy Framework for NI, SEM power market entry for a variety to clients, financial arrangements and options for renewable energy investors in SEM, risk and market intelligence considerations for clients in Ireland, Northern Ireland and GB.

Evie has a strong background in the new iteration of the Single Electricity Market (SEM). Before starting her consulting role with Cornwall Insight, she was the I-SEM Project Design Lead for the risk and modelling teams at ESB trading.

Prior to entering the commercial side of the energy industry, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Trinity College Dublin under Prof. Valeria Nicolosi, a globally renowned scientist in energy storage and battery materials research.