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

Over a relatively short period of time, this Government has completely reimagined and implemented a new policy, legislative and regulatory system to deliver on our commitment to offshore renewable energy. Our plan-led approach to delivering our offshore wind targets includes a number of overlapping phases. Over 3 GW of capacity has been procured in our first offshore wind auction from phase 1 offshore wind projects, which will deliver over 12 TWh of renewable electricity per year. Three of the phase 1 projects have submitted planning applications in recent weeks with the other three expected to submit their formal planning applications shortly. The terms and conditions for our second offshore wind.auction are being finalised and the auction process is expected to begin before the end of this year.

Last month as part of phase 2, my Department launched the State’s first draft spatial plan for renewable energy generation, knows as the draft south coast designated maritime area plan, DMAP. The development of further DMAPs in other parts of Ireland's extensive maritime area will follow as part of the Government’s plan-led approach to offshore wind development.

Development of the offshore wind marine planning guidelines is being co-ordinated through a cross-disciplinary working group. The guidelines are being worked on as a matter of urgency and are expected to be finalised by quarter 4 of 2024. In May, my Department published the future framework for offshore renewable energy, setting out the key actions necessary for Ireland to deliver a potential 20 GW of offshore wind by 2040 and 37 GW by 2050.

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