Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Offshore renewable energy, ORE, is integral to achieving Ireland’s climate change ambitions with a target of achieving 7 GW of offshore energy by 2030, of which 2 GW will be dedicated solely to the production of green hydrogen. Ports will play a critical part in achieving this ambition. In December 2021, a policy paper was published on the facilitation of offshore renewable energy by commercial ports in Ireland, which identified that four to five port facilities, each capable of delivering 500 MW of renewable capacity annually, will be required for deployment activity and multiple ports, both on the east and west coast, will be needed for operation and maintenance operations.

My Department continues to encourage engagement between the ports and ORE developers and in 2022, the ports' co-ordination group was established to co-ordinate port responses and maintain policy in the development of ORE. The ports co-ordination group continues to meet, with the next meeting scheduled for today.

Following the Government decision on 14 September 2022, prioritising efforts across all Departments in relation to planning and consents relating to ORE, a new division was established in my Department focusing in particular on work to facilitate offshore renewable energy at ports in Ireland, including funding options. While ports currently receive no Exchequer funding, EU funding of port infrastructure for ORE is available for ports, or terminals within ports, on the Trans-European Transport Network, TEN-T. Ports on the TEN-T network are eligible to apply for Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, funding towards their infrastructure developments, with the potential for up to 50% of eligible costs for studies and up to 30% of infrastructure work costs.

The latest CEF call for funding closed on 18 January 2023 with the results expected in June 2023. This is a competitive process which is heavily oversubscribed. I cannot comment on applications, due to EU stipulations regarding confidentiality, during the assessment process or confirm who has or has not applied. I can confirm, however, that the Department of Transport has assisted eligible applicants as appropriate with the application process. Furthermore, my Department continues to engage with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, the European Investment Bank, EIB, and the European Commission, regarding the availability of funding and financing options for ports in providing the necessary ORE infrastructure. I will come back again.

See this speech in context