Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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1125. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide an update on the offshore renewable energy development plan implementation, with particular emphasis on the status of planned wind farms off the east coast of Ireland, in view of the lack of an import export energy agreement with the United Kingdom for the foreseeable future, and the growth of alternative energy sources to meet the United Kingdom's renewable and energy security demands, including Scottish wind energy, increased energy connectivity between England and Scotland, and the planned increase in domestic nuclear power capacity in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22163/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP), published in February 2014, sets out the Government’s policy in relation to the sustainable development of our offshore energy potential. It provides the mechanism through which action across Government Departments and Agencies to support the development of offshore renewable electricity generation can be fully coordinated in areas such as environmental monitoring and protection, research and development, consenting procedures, infrastructure requirements and enterprise development. A steering group, which draws on the support of relevant Government departments and agencies, oversees the implementation of the OREDP via three work streams: (i) Environment, (ii) Infrastructure and (iii) Job Creation.

Work is focussing on the ongoing development of national ocean energy test facilities in Cork, Galway and Mayo (Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site). Preparatory work is also underway, building on the SEA for the OREDP, on scoping a more detailed environmental study to map constraints and opportunities and identify suitable areas for offshore renewable developments. In addition, work is progressing on the development of guidance documents for offshore developers on (i) information to be contained in Environmental Impact Statements and Natura Impact Statements (ii) environmental monitoring requirements and (iii) available data sources, to include a gap analysis.

A total of € 8.1m in in Exchequer funding has been provided over the two years 2014/2015 to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) for the Ocean Energy Programme, which includes the Ocean Energy Prototype Fund. Over 20 projects have received grant offers from the Prototype Fund since the launch of the OREDP.

The OREDP identifies export as the route to market for offshore wind. Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Co-operation with the UK Government in January 2013, a joint programme of work was undertaken to consider how Irish renewable energy resources, offshore and onshore, might be developed to the mutual benefit of both Ireland and the UK. Economic analysis undertaken by my Department clearly indicates that under agreed policy and regulatory conditions, renewable energy trading would deliver significant economic benefits to Ireland and the UK, and would also be attractive to developers. However, given the economic, policy and regulatory complexities involved, and some key decisions that the UK is not yet in a position to take, delivery by 2020 of renewable energy trading is not a realistic proposition.

In the context of a European Internal Energy Market, it would appear that greater trade in energy between Britain and Ireland is likely in the post-2020 scenario.