RESS 6: final terms published

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For operators developing onshore wind and solar in Ireland, the clock now matters more than the headline. Qualification applications open at 10:00 on 30 July and close at 17:00 on 27 August, with the bid bond due the next day. The rest of the timetable runs as follows:

• Provisional qualification decisions: 25 September 2026
• Final qualification decisions: 21 October 2026
• Auction bid window: 29 October to 5 November 2026
• Provisional auction results: 18 November 2026
• Final auction results: 2 December 2026
• Notice of Award: 10 December 2026

EirGrid marks the final terms and timetable as subject to State Aid negotiations, so treat the dates as firm but contingent on that clearance. Anyone intending to bid needs to register on the RESS Auction Platform ahead of 30 July, since validation can take up to five working days.

The design follows the established RESS pattern. Support is a two-way contract: the bid price is a guaranteed floor and also a cap, so a project is topped up when the market price sits below its bid and pays back the difference when the market price runs above it. Support runs for up to 16.5 years, and every project carries a Community Benefit Fund contribution of €2 per MWh generated. RESS 6 covers onshore wind and solar, and hybrid projects are explicitly eligible, including wind and solar paired with storage.

One detail is worth checking against your own models. The Renewable Capacity Factors in the final terms are 35% for onshore wind and 11% for solar. Those figures drive both the deemed energy quantity and the bid bond, so any sizing built on a different assumption at consultation stage should be revisited against the published numbers. The bond itself is €6 per MWh of one year of deemed energy. On EirGrid's own worked examples that is €183,960 for a 10 MW onshore wind project and €57,816 for a 10 MW solar project, with hybrid projects sized on a blended capacity factor.

There is also a new resilience step. Applicants must submit a Resilience Declaration confirming whether the project meets the Minimum Resilience Requirements, reflecting the non-price criteria that Article 26 of the EU Net-Zero Industry Act brings into renewable auctions. It is a declaration at qualification stage rather than a scored bid parameter, but it is a gate that did not exist in earlier rounds and it should be handled early, not left to the auction window.

RESS 6 sits inside a wider target of 80% renewable electricity by 2030, with 9 GW of onshore wind and 8 GW of solar to reach. For developers, the near-term question is narrower: qualify cleanly by 27 August, size the bond correctly, and go into the November window with a bid price that reflects where Irish capture values and route-to-market economics actually sit.

That last point is where merchant exposure meets the auction floor. A RESS contract removes downside below the bid price, but the value of the position still depends on how wind and solar capture prices, negative-price hours and balancing costs evolve over the support term. If you are modelling an Irish bid, or weighing a RESS route against a corporate PPA, Synertics can help you ground the price view in current market data. You can start at https://synertics.io/signup/ or reach us at info@synertics.io.