Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

While offshore wind is already being deployed in a number of EU member states, it is still a very expensive technology to deploy. Offshore wind currently costs in the region of €3 million per MW to deploy compared to the cost of onshore wind which is about half of that. Wave energy technology is still very much at the research and development stage and the commercial and technical feasibility is not yet proven. While there are very promising wave technology devices in development, they are at pre-commercial stages. Hence, it is not yet at a stage where large scale commercial scale development for the generation of electricity could take place.

The national wave energy sector has been supported over recent years through the ocean energy development unit in Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. Support has included a prototype development fund of research grants to industry, the enhancement of the wave tank test facility in the hydraulics and maritime research centre in Cork and the development of a quarter scale prototype wave test site in Galway Bay. Further work includes preliminary design and survey work on a full scale wave test site off County Mayo.

Ireland has a very small electricity market, with around 2 million electricity consumers. Given the very significantly higher price of developing offshore wind compared to the lower cost onshore, it makes economic sense that we focus on developing less costly onshore wind resources to deliver Ireland's binding EU targets for renewable electricity. It is not the Government's intention that Irish consumers fund offshore wind development through a feed-in-tariff. Wave energy technology is not yet commercially viable and is therefore appropriately supported by research and development funding. This position applies to all projects, irrespective of whether they are developed privately or by the semi-State companies. The best future for Ireland's offshore wind resource lies in becoming an export industry.

The renewable energy directive provides the mechanism by which the renewable value of electricity can be traded. I am working bilaterally with my UK colleagues to create the necessary framework to enable trading between our two countries. Any project development that takes place for export has to occur under the auspices of a legal inter-governmental agreement with the UK under Directive 2009/28/EC. There are currently a number of project developers that have expressed interest in renewable export. The manner in which projects falling under the intergovernmental agreement would be selected remains to be established.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The agreement with the UK will be developed in a way which ensures a mutually beneficial arrangement and to ensure tangible economic benefits for Ireland. If renewable energy power is being exported and consumed in the UK, then UK consumers will have to provide the necessary financial support to make the development commercially viable. These costs will not fall on Irish energy consumers.

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