Mr. Pat Keating:

Our underlying business was absolutely very reliant on fossil fuels such as coal for Moneypoint. Even in the area of home heating oils, petrol and diesel, change is coming. As a commercial company, it is necessary to deal with change all the time. Returning to ORE, given our location, we are actually very well placed to capitalise on that potential. This potential may in fact be much greater than anything that has come before. Our ambition is to set up what is known as a marshalling port, which is a port that provides for the supply chain needed for the construction phases of floating wind farms. One then gets into the manufacturing of the floating devices or platforms themselves. These are primarily made of steel and concrete. They are basic enough but they are very big, chunky, heavy devices that require a lot of shipping and port infrastructure.

With regard to fossil fuels, there is a dip in current and short-term profitability, but in the long term, we are very well placed to capitalise on the move towards a low-carbon economy. ORE is one part of that. It is not just about electricity generation. Coming from that, there is also the potential to produce hydrogen or ammonia as new liquid fuels. This fuel will be more geared towards HGVs and buses. The Senator will have seen Dublin Bus ordering its first hydrogen-powered buses as a pilot scheme recently. Offshore floating wind energy goes hand in glove with hydrogen and ammonia production. With regard to the transition away from fossil fuels, in addition to generating energy at an ORE hub, there is the possibility to produce hydrogen.