Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I was to share time with Deputy Leddin but he is not here so I will take the full ten minutes. I welcome and accept this Private Member's motion on offshore renewable energy from the Regional Group. It is absolutely timely and I imagine it will be supported across the House. What the Deputies say is absolutely true. This is a significant economic opportunity for our State, as well as being critical in meeting our climate and renewable targets. It has potential to completely transform the economic development of the State towards the west, north west, south west and the coasts right around this country. One of its benefits is that it would lead to better balanced economic development. We also have to see it in the context of a very large vision of how we turn this opportunity into an exporting possibility where we sell our power coming from our ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, into the rest of Europe. To deliver on that, again I agree with the intent of the motion, we need a really good regulatory planning framework. I want to set out today in broad detail what the Government is doing in that regard.

The national marine planning framework, NMPF, established in 2021 by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, sets out objectives and policies which must be considered in all planning decisions related to the maritime area. At the same time, management of our maritime area is being reformed through the Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021. I commend all Deputies who were involved in getting it through the House in record time. It is in the Seanad at the moment and we expect it to be enacted before the end of the year. This is critical for the infrastructure we need to manage our offshore resources. One of the main features of the Bill is the creation of a new State consent, the maritime area consent, MAC, as a first step in this new planning process.

To meet our 2030 targets, namely, 5 GW of offshore wind and 80% renewables, we need a pathway to select a number of projects which had advanced under the foreshore regime to transition to the new maritime area planning regime. Under these special transition provisions in the Bill, I, as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications will have the responsibility for assessing and granting maritime area consents for a first batch of ring-fenced offshore projects, known as the relevant projects. These first MACs are expected to be granted in quarter 3 of next year. That will be a crucial step towards meeting our 2030 targets.

These relevant projects will still be required to apply for all of the requisite consents and planning permission, and will be subject to the full assessment procedures by An Bord Pleanála. After the assessment and grant of the first batch of offshore renewable energy projects, responsibility will be handed over to the new maritime area regulatory authority, MARA, which various Deputies have mentioned. It will be established and operational in the first quarter of 2023. Its establishment is one of the highest priorities of this Government to meet this economic opportunity.

In addition to developing the planning and regulatory frameworks for this new multibillion euro offshore industry, my Department is also developing a route to market for offshore wind under the renewable electricity support scheme, RESS. At least three RESS auctions dedicated to offshore wind are planned this decade. The draft terms and conditions of the first of these auctions, ORESS 1, were published for consultation by my Department in October. Final ORESS 1 terms and conditions will be brought to Government for approval in quarter 2 next year, with the objective of the auction commencing later next year. We are putting community benefit at the heart of this process, learning the lessons from previous attempts as Deputy Naughten said. All offshore wind energy developments will be required to make community benefit funds contributions and, owing to the larger scale of offshore wind developments, these contributions are expected to be significantly larger than those of onshore counterparts.

Ireland’s intention is to move to a plan-led approach to the development of the offshore renewable energy sector. A new offshore renewable energy development plan, OREDP II, will be completed at next year. Together with the national marine planning framework, the OREDP II will provide a framework for the sustainable development of Ireland's offshore renewable energy resources into the future. Under this plan-led approach, all offshore transmission system assets will be owned by the Irish transmission system operator, EirGrid, which is publicly owned. Increased interconnection and eventual development of a European offshore meshed grid will be key to realising Ireland’s short and long term offshore renewable energy objectives. The climate action plan commits the Government to updating the existing electricity interconnection policy next year, which will facilitate development of further interconnection with the EU and UK beyond the Celtic and Greenlink interconnectors currently at an advanced stage of pre-construction development. To assist this I am pleased to let Deputies know that we have just taken on the presidency of the North Seas Energy Cooperation group, ten countries across Europe working together to see exactly how we can design this North Seas interconnected grid, which would allow us to share power and get power at times when wind speeds are low. This economic opportunity is key. It will require investment of tens of billions of euro in Ireland’s offshore renewable energy sector. This investment will deliver considerable benefit in terms of creating high-value indigenous jobs in the installation and maintenance of generation assets and associated infrastructure. Further jobs will be created in the development of indigenous supply chains and port infrastructure.

The Department of Transport, in conjunction with the Irish Maritime Development Office, IMDO, will shortly publish a policy statement outlining the proposed strategy for providing infrastructure at ports to facilitate development and future operation of offshore renewable energy projects. A Shannon Estuary task force will be established by the Government, led by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and supported by officials from Departments and State agencies, as well as county and city councils. This task force will consider the potential of the Shannon Estuary in terms of regional economic development for the renewable energy sector, as well as transport and logistics, manufacturing and tourism, and will develop a strategy to achieve this potential to be published in 2022 following approval by the Government. A cross-departmental offshore renewable energy team, chaired by my Department, has also been established to capture wider economic and business opportunities associated with the development of offshore renewables in Ireland. Furthermore, Enterprise Ireland has for the past several years focused on developing the Irish SME capability to engage with the offshore wind industry. This work stream has included identifying relevant Irish SME capability across a number of sectors and establishing and supporting an Irish offshore wind cluster, comprising more than 60 companies.

The Deputies are absolutely right to point out that our sea area is seven times our land area. It happens to be one of the areas of the world with a wind resource that is one of the strongest and most extensive. The first likely early stage of development will be the Irish Sea, particularly those relevant projects I mentioned earlier. We will then this decade move into the southern waters and into western waters. We are likely to see fixed bottom wind turbines in the Irish Sea moving to floating turbines as we move into western waters, which are deeper and a harsher environment but a far larger potential resource. There is massive potential there. The key issue is what we do when the power comes ashore. We are thinking bigger on this not only in port development but also industrial development. What is likely to happen is that the electricity power supply may be converted into hydrogen or ammonia and other fuel systems. That provides the industrial opportunity in the likes of Shannon Port, Cork Harbour, Rosslare Harbour or elsewhere. It is not just that it is supporting the offshore industry but also the new industries that may come from this.

It will not be without controversy. It will not be easy. We have seen in other countries that the development of offshore wind brings real challenges.

People may not want to see turbines within sight of their shore. We need to get environment planning right so that it does not affect the critical marine biodiversity which needs to be restored and not just retained. If we can overcome those concerns - the planning concerns are the greatest - the potential for the country is limitless.

Deputy Berry mentioned the example of the building of Ardnacrusha; this is an Ardnacrusha-type moment. We need to think 50 and 100 years ahead. In setting up this industry on a sustainable basis, we have the potential to power our country and create employment across the country in a way unmatched by any other economic opportunity the State has previously had. That is why the Government supports the intentions and the broad outline of the Opposition motion.

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