Addressing the Barriers to Offshore Renewable Energy Development in Ireland

Over the last six months, the Irish government has released a trilogy of policy and strategy documents that outline the country's approach to offshore renewable energy development. These documents aim to align with Ireland's Climate Action Plan 2024, which sets a target of delivering at least 5GW of offshore wind power by 2030 .

The three key documents are: Powering Prosperity, Future Framework for Offshore Renewable Energy, and Offshore Renewable Energy Technology Roadmap. Powering Prosperity examines the economic and employment opportunities of offshore renewable energy, while the Future Framework document lays out a plan to grow the offshore renewable energy industry, with a focus on floating technology, to reach 20GW by 2040 and 37GW by 2050 . However, the most recent Offshore Renewable Energy Technology Roadmap, published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland in June 2024, suggests a baseline target of 3.2GW for offshore renewable energy in 2030 - a figure lower than the 5GW originally stated .

This discrepancy raises questions about whether the 5GW target is still an active policy and if Ireland is falling behind schedule. Research by Dr. James Carton, Assistant Professor in Sustainable Energy, and Bill Duggan, a research assistant at Dublin City University, has revealed that port development is a major bottleneck to offshore renewable energy development in Ireland.

The Offshore Renewable Energy Technology Roadmap suggests that Belfast could be an immediate solution for delivering Ireland's offshore wind farms, but it does not provide a short-term plan or express the necessity to develop port infrastructure within the Republic of Ireland. The report indicates that 40 turbines per year can be deployed from Belfast, which, assuming 17MW turbines, would equate to 680MW per year. This rate of deployment will not be sufficient to meet the 5GW target by 2030.

Looking beyond 2030, both the SEAI report and the Future Framework focus on using installation vessels in sheltered waters to assemble floating wind turbines, rather than addressing port development. This approach is not a long-term solution, but rather a temporary fix - an expensive "band-aid" with limited benefits for the local economy. It's important to note that floating wind technology will likely be deployed off the South East of Ireland decades before it is used in the Atlantic.

The Future Framework for Offshore Renewable Energy Policy statement acknowledges that "critical components of Ireland's offshore renewable energy system including generation, storage, ports, and grid infrastructure are informed by the National Development Plan". However, a closer examination of the NDP reveals that its focus is on roll-on and roll-off traffic and goods, and it even states that "ports do not receive Exchequer funding".

Researchers at DCU have concluded that what Ireland needs is a comprehensive plan to develop these ports as part of a national infrastructure project. The NDP's companion document, the National Planning Framework (part of Project Ireland 2040), continues to prioritize connectivity when it comes to ports, leaving a noticeable gap in the government's approach.

This lack of a centralized, coordinated plan has led to a chaotic situation. Individual ports are developing their own plans, rather than a national strategy, resulting in potential inward investment being directed to other countries, different ports competing for the same European funding, and the continued absence of operational ports in Ireland capable of deploying offshore wind at scale.

Without a short-term or medium-term viable plan to develop the necessary port infrastructure, Ireland will face delays in delivering offshore renewable energy, electrifying its economy, and achieving decarbonization. This will also lead to inadequate investment in strategic locations, poor economic returns for local communities, and more expensive electricity for customers.

The SEAI has indicated that three to four ports will be required for post-2035 offshore renewable energy development, but the reality is that there are only a handful of locations in Ireland that can physically be developed into suitable ports to manage floating wind turbine set down, assembly, and maintenance. A comprehensive national plan to develop these key ports is crucial to delivering offshore renewable energy at scale and meeting Ireland's ambitious targets.