Offshore wind sector has the potential to deliver up to 5,000 jobs.
Ireland and Scotland have begun working together to harness the full economic development potential of offshore wind.
A new programme entitled ‘Advancing the Offshore Wind Opportunity: Bridging Irish and Scottish Perspectives’ will explore opportunities for collaboration on joint initiatives, share expertise, and develop partnerships that can maximise the economic benefit of offshore wind energy to both countries.
“Ireland has taken a number of significant steps towards delivering offshore wind energy over the last year”
At an event in Cork today (13 June) the industry potential will be showcased in the aftermath of roundtable talks between Irish and Scottish ministers in Dublin yesterday.
The event is an action from the Department Enterprise Trade and Employment’s recently published Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy (see below).
37GW of offshore wind targeted by 2050
At the core of Powering Prosperity is the ambition to build a successful, vibrant, and impactful new offshore wind energy sector by the end of this decade, and to ensure that sector creates significant value and up to 5,000 jobs in offshore wind energy and related industries for the people of Ireland.
Ireland has a stated target of achieving 37-gigawatts (GW) of offshore renewable energy by 2050.
“Ireland has taken a number of significant steps towards delivering offshore wind energy over the last year including our first successful offshore wind auction, the establishment of the Maritime Area Regularity Authority, the publication of our first Draft Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) for our South Coast, as well as the Future Framework for offshore renewable energy, and Powering Prosperity,” said Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, TD.
“Together these set a roadmap for how Ireland can create an offshore renewable energy sector of scale to achieve our climate and energy targets beyond 2030, while also bolstering the security and prosperity of the State.
“This event with Scotland demonstrates our commitment to working with like-minded countries in addressing common challenges, and developing joint solutions as we navigate the pathway to 37GW of offshore renewable energy by 2050. This is a big target for a country of our size, but it is achievable, and part of realising that will be to work with countries like Scotland in ensuring that all parts of the system, including regulation, planning and infrastructure, research and development, and supply chains are in place to deliver the windfarms.”
A wind blows through it
Ireland has one of the best offshore renewable energy resources in the world, providing a strong and consistent wind supply.
To fully harness the vast potential for clean, renewable energy from our seas, a suite of policies across Government have been, or are in the process of being developed, to ensure offshore renewable energy (ORE) projects are delivered in line with the target to deliver at least 37GW of ORE capacity by 2050.
A key enabler of these targets is the work of the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce (OWDT) chaired by DECC. DETE, in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, leads on the work of Workstream 7 under the OWDT, which is focused on the supply chain, and also sits on a number of the other Workstreams to feed into their work and the overall work of the OWDT.
Ireland’s target to generate at least 37GW of ORE capacity by 2050 is expected to be achieved primarily from offshore wind energy (OWE), and fits within the 260GW target by 2050 for OWE of the North Seas Energy Cooperation, of which Ireland is a member, the 300GW target by 2050 of the European Union and a 657GW global target.
These targets represent a significant economic development opportunity for Ireland in terms of developing an OWE industry capable of serving both domestic and international projects and maximising the benefits of future renewable energy use.
“The development of offshore renewable energy is a priority for our Government,” said Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary, TD.
“By working together with international partners like Scotland, Ireland has the potential to excel in the offshore wind sector to the benefit of all parts of our country, and over time, of Europe too.
-
Bank of Ireland is welcoming new customers every day – funding investments, working capital and expansions across multiple sectors. To learn more, click here
