Mr. Paul Kelly:

I thank the Senator for his questions. The first question related to Donegal and the development of offshore wind there. The phase 1 projects have been in development, typically going back to 1999, and for various regulatory and market reasons, those projects never progressed. There is an urgent need for the delivery of phase 1 projects and that is why those projects have gone into the planning process. In respect of offshore wind, however, the off-take from the infrastructure, which is electricity, is very important. The requirement of maritime area consents is you have to connect to the Irish electricity transmission system. Those phase 1 offshore wind farm projects are using conventional and proven technology which will bring the benefits of cost-saving from those technologies to the Irish consumer. There is a balance of the cost-effectiveness, the capacity of the grid and the availability and supply chain to provide that technology which is what has led to the phase 1 projects moving forward first.

The national DMAP is the mechanism by which future sites can be identified. What is critically important is that Donegal does have wind and good water depths, particularly on the near shore in towards Donegal Bay. It is also important that there is an off-take for the product of offshore wind, which is electricity. The electricity investment in the grid is important from a Donegal perspective. I am not sure if Mr. Moran has anything else to add to that.