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

The national marine planning framework was adopted by Government in 2021 as Ireland's first marine spatial plan. Later in 2021, the Maritime Area Planning Act was enacted.

Under the Maritime Area Planning Act, a new maritime area consent, MAC, regime for offshore energy projects was developed over the course of 2022 by my Department. I awarded MACs to seven phase one projects in December 2022. I have already welcomed the provisional results of the first offshore wind auction under the renewable electricity support scheme, ORESS 1, which surpassed expectations. More than 3 GW of capacity has been procured from four offshore wind projects, which will deliver over a quarter of the projected 2030 electricity demand. It is enough to power more than 2.5 million Irish homes with clean electricity and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 1 million tonnes in 2030.

The Government approved the policy statement on the framework for phase two offshore wind in March this year. The Government's commitments on offshore renewable energy, set out in the phase two policy statement, were approved by the Dáil on 24 May. Within phase two, auction participants will compete for supports to develop offshore wind within offshore renewable energy designated maritime area plans, DMAPs. The process for establishing a DMAP is provided for in the Maritime Area Planning Act. The location of phase two DMAPs will be geographically aligned with available onshore grid capacity identified by EirGrid. A south coast DMAP is being developed by my officials, in collaboration with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which will be published this summer. This transition to a plan-led approach will expedite future delivery of offshore wind, while ensuring that development is managed in a planned, strategic and sustainable way.

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