Plan-led approach will make Ireland a renewable energy powerhouse, says Minister Ryan
Maximising renewable wind energy is a priority for the government, whose ambitious programme for government which included the delivery of 5 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030.
, TD, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, outlines how a plan-led approach to offshore wind energy will give Ireland the best opportunity to achieve its climate action goals
The sense of urgency to deliver ambitious climate action has never been higher — the world is currently in a race to keep the global average temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
Extreme weather records continue to be broken. Climate scientists have reported that last October was the hottest October on record globally, with temperatures 1.7 degrees above what they were thought to have been during the average October in the late 1800s. Reports also highlight that 2023 is on track to be the warmest year on record.
In Ireland, the recent flood damage caused by Storm Babet shows just how vulnerable we are here to extreme weather conditions. From an energy security perspective, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also brought about new challenges for the security of energy supplies and underpins how important it is that we switch to at speed and at scale to our own indigenous renewable energy sources.
We are at a tipping point and the challenges ahead are considerable. However, I believe that we have the political will to respond to these challenges and provide a sustainable way of life for future generations. The recent announcement of a new €3.1bn climate and nature fund is further evidence of this. The fund will allow strategic investment to address the worsening climate and biodiversity crises and it shows just how seriously all of government is taking the future investment needs for climate.
Ireland is a key emerging market in the offshore renewable wind energy space. The scale of our resource is huge — our sea area is seven times that of our land area. The opportunities which this presents cannot be overlooked. Maximising renewable wind energy is a significant priority for this government. This is matched by an ambition which includes one of the most significant projects of our generation. When our current government was formed, it signed up to an ambitious programme for government which included the delivery of 5 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030.
We have now ensured that that programme goes beyond this, with a further 2GW earmarked for the production of green hydrogen and other non-grid uses and by developing a framework for the delivery of 30GW of offshore wind by 2050.
The challenges ahead are considerable, but so are the possibilities. In monetary terms, it will require investment in the region of €100 billion, or almost a third of our GNP, and will take 30 years to develop. To deliver our climate and offshore wind energy ambitions, we have moved to a plan-led approach. This will ensure that development of offshore renewable energy is delivered through a number of overlapping phases in a planned, strategic, economical and sustainable way, which will also guide investment within this sector.
In order to establish the foundations to underpin the emerging offshore energy sector, Ireland has had to undergo the most extensive reform of marine governance since the foundation of the Irish State. The Maritime Area Planning (MAP) Act was signed into law on at the end of 2021 and it provides an entirely new legislative framework and streamlined development consent process for activities in the maritime area.
This framework includes bespoke forward planning, permitting and enforcement regimes as well as introducing a new State agency, MARA, as the Maritime Regulator. Whereas under the old Foreshore regime, you might have to wait up to two years for a site investigation licence, the new regime has brought that down to 90 days or less in most cases. A new directorate has been established in An Bord Pleanála dedicated to consideration of Climate and Marine infrastructure applications and this too will further buttress the efficiency of the new planning system.
Traditionally, any development of Ireland's natural resources has been led by developers and regulated by certain departments and agencies. However, increased development demands and the challenge of achieving the targets set out in Ireland's Climate Action Plan, which include offshore renewable generation of electricity from wind, means that we need a new approach to ensure the development of Ireland's marine resources is sustainable.
The MAP Act contains provisions for forward plans called Designated Maritime Area Plans or DMAPs. With the approval of Government, my Department has accelerated this forward planning regime and has published the State’s first DMAP Proposal. When complete in early 2024, the DMAP will act as a management plan for a specific area of our marine waters – in this case off Cork, Waterford and Wexford — and designate areas suitable for offshore wind along with supporting grid infrastructure.
What this means in practice is that the State, in cooperation with local communities and key stakeholders, and with consideration for other maritime activities including fishing and seafood production, will determine the appropriate location for offshore renewable energy developments. We will continue this accelerated approach with more DMAPs over the next number of years. These plans will go through rigorous environmental assessment and will guide decision-making and investment decisions within the area they cover. It will make for a more transparent, efficient, and democratic planning system where people know well in advance where projects will be sited and plan accordingly.
As part of this plan-led approach, a cross-Departmental Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce has been established to drive delivery and capture wider and longer term economic and business opportunities associated with the development of offshore renewables in Ireland. This includes the identification of supporting infrastructure development and supply chain opportunities as Ireland’s offshore wind industry is developed.
As part of their work on the cross-departmental Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is developing a National Industrial Strategy for Offshore Wind. This will involve identifying measures to build a capable and resilient supply chain and ensure that our strong research, development and innovation ecosystem extends to the offshore wind sector. In the longer term, it will aim to ensure that Ireland achieves the greatest economic impact possible arising from the routes to market for our abundant renewable energy, as well as assessing opportunities for strategic spatial development in our coastal areas and around our ports.
Our plan-led approach will streamline future offshore wind energy developments and is underpinned by a robust legislative path. This way forward offers the best opportunity to match our growing offshore ambitions.
The landmark results of ORESS 1, our first offshore wind auction, earlier this year underscored these ambitions and was the clearest signal yet that Ireland can become a renewables powerhouse. Over 3GW of capacity has been procured from four offshore wind projects, which will deliver over 12 Terawatt hours of renewable electricity per year. This is the largest volume of renewable energy Ireland has ever procured at auction. It is also enough to power over 2.5 million Irish homes with clean electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 1 million tonnes in 2030.
These developments come under Ireland’s Phase One approach to offshore wind energy developments.
Our second offshore wind energy auction, ORESS 2.1, is set to launch in 2024. ORESS 2.1 will be the first auction to take place in Phase Two and will procure up to 900 Megawatts of capacity from a State-selected provisional ‘designated area’ — a ‘Designated Maritime Area Plan’ (DMAP) off Ireland’s south coast. As well as helping to meet our climate goals, these processes, along with subsequent offshore development, will have a transformational impact on investment, regional communities and on sustainable jobs creation.
We have also made very significant developments in our electricity interconnection plans. Our new interconnection policy, published in July, will see Ireland increase its electricity interconnection capacity and explore new interconnection opportunities with Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
In November, Ireland and France marked the commencement of construction on the Celtic Interconnector project, a high-voltage subsea power cable that will link the electricity grids of both countries, with a visit from a French Government Delegation. Ireland and France also signed a joint declaration of intent on energy transition cooperation, which has laid out a framework for the decarbonisation of both nations’ energy systems. Increased electricity interconnection will be a key enabler in our growing use of renewable energy will also help lower energy prices and play a central role in Ireland’s journey to a net zero power system. It will also better integrate European electricity markets, and by using more diversified energy markets it will improve our electricity security and resilience.
There are also plans for further connections to the UK, a development which again highlights the importance of the close partnership between the two States. To sit alongside our plan-led approach to offshore wind, we are pivoting to a plan-led approach to interconnection, so projects are complementary, with generation and transmission aligned.
Work is also continuing on a longer-term offshore energy resource assessment of our sea area. This strategy will form a key building block of the future, long-term model for the offshore renewable energy sector in Ireland. This long-term model and vision for offshore renewable energy in Ireland is called the Future Framework. This policy will be published in early 2024 and will set out a framework for the delivery of 30GW of offshore wind by 2050.
This vision for achieving our renewable energy goals is shared across government and the regulatory framework we have put in place will ensure that the economic, environmental and societal benefits are realised for all our citizens and stakeholders, now and into the future.
