Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Significant progress has been made across Government towards the delivery of offshore renewable energy during the last three years.

The Climate Action Plan 2024 commits to achieving at least 5GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030. The Government’s phased approach to offshore wind development involves:

• a developer-led Phase One, which corresponds to the first offshore renewable electricity auction (ORESS 1).
• Phase Two, an accelerated work programme, focusing on near-term delivery based on technology with proven scalability in other jurisdictions and which will procure the additional offshore wind capacity required to meet Government’s 2030 target; and
• the fully plan-led Future Framework approach.

Ireland currently has the fourth most ambitious offshore wind expansion programme in the European Union. We plan to deploy more gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030 than France, Spain, Portugal or Belgium. Only Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark plan to deploy more than Ireland, all of which have larger electricity markets and have established offshore wind sectors from which to grow.

In December 2021, the Maritime Area Planning (MAP) Act 2021 was enacted and established the legislative foundation for the new marine planning system. Under the MAP Act, a new Maritime Area Consent (MAC) regime for offshore energy projects was developed to replace the foreshore lease system.

Following a detailed assessment process, I awarded MACs to six Phase One projects in December 2022. The MACs have been carefully designed to ensure the speedy progression of only the most viable offshore wind energy projects to meet Ireland’s energy targets, while protecting the State’s interest in its valuable maritime resource.

In April 2022, I established the cross-Government Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce to capture the wider and longer-term economic and business opportunities associated with the development of offshore renewables in Ireland. The Taskforce brings together work ongoing across government, agencies and industry to deliver on Ireland’s offshore wind ambitions. The actions highlighted for delivery in 2024 included measures relating to supply chain, ports policy, skills and workforce, and regulatory consenting.

The results of our first offshore wind auction, ORESS 1, were finalised in June 2023. The results surpassed expectations, both in terms of the total volume of renewable energy procured and the low price at which it has been secured. Over 3GW of capacity has been procured from four Phase One offshore wind projects, which will deliver over 12TWh (terawatt hours) of renewable electricity per year. This is the largest volume of renewable energy Ireland has ever procured at auction — equivalent to over a third of Ireland’s entire electricity consumption in 2023 and over a quarter of projected 2030 electricity demand.

Three of the six Phase One projects have submitted planning applications in recent weeks with the other three expected to submit their formal planning application shortly.

In March 2023, I published the Policy Statement on the Framework for Phase Two Offshore Wind, which moved the ORE system from a developer-led system to a State or plan-led led-system. This meant that the State would from that point on designate areas of the maritime area as offshore energy production areas. From a planning perspective, this well-flagged system change brought certainty to ORE in the long term.

As part of the Government’s new plan-led approach to offshore wind development, last May, my Department launched the State’s first draft spatial plan for renewable energy generation – which took the form of the draft South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan, or DMAP. This DMAP approach will ensure that future development of offshore energy will take place in designated areas, providing certainty to investors as well as certainty to local coastal communities, and key stakeholders, such as the fishing communities. This publication is a landmark development in forward spatial planning and a game-changer for how we manage and plan our extensive maritime area.

The publication of the draft South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) Proposal was followed by an intensive period of local engagement with coastal communities and other maritime users. The development of further DMAPs, including for the west coast, will follow as part of the plan-led approach. A further key action under the Future Framework is to provide supports to establish an ORE Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) Roadmap in Q4 2024 which will outline the criteria, future locations and indicative timelines for future DMAP establishment.

The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) was established in July 2023, a significant milestone in the State’s stewardship of the maritime area. The launch of MARA coincided with the publication of the first output of the Seafood-ORE Group, agreeing a Communications Protocol between the two sectors.

In November 2023, my Department published an ‘ indicative roadmap’ outlining a timetable towards Ireland’s next offshore wind energy auction – ORESS 2.1. The terms and conditions for ORESS 2.1 are currently being finalised and the auction is expected to take place in Q4 2024.

The National Policy Statement on Electricity Interconnection, published in July 2023, outlines how a State-directed approach will ensure integrated forward planning, enabling the necessary infrastructure to unlock significant green energy export opportunities. In November 2023, work began on the construction of the Celtic interconnector which will see the return of direct connectivity to the EU via France and is due for completion in 2027.

In July 2023, my Department published the National Hydrogen Strategy. The strategy represents a landmark point in the development of a renewable hydrogen sector in Ireland. A 2GW target to produce renewable hydrogen sourced from offshore wind is also set to be in development by 2030.

The Future Framework for Offshore Renewable Energy, published in May 2024, sets out the key actions Ireland will take to deliver 20GW of offshore wind by 2040 and at least 37GW by 2050. The Future Framework maps out how Ireland can create a flagship offshore renewable energy sector to achieve our climate and energy targets beyond 2030, while also maximising the financial and economic return of offshore renewable energy to the State and local communities.

In March 2024, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment published Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy. These actions aim to build a strong and resilient offshore wind supply chain in Ireland, as well as exploring opportunities for Irish companies to play a major role in the development of offshore wind projects in Ireland and abroad.

A recent offshore renewables energy Skills Assessment Report produced for Green Tech Skillnet and Wind Energy Ireland, found that meeting our target of 37 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2050 could be worth €38 billion to the Irish economy. In response to the report, the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce is currently developing a Skills Action Plan to capture future employment opportunities in the offshore renewables space.

My Department established Community Benefit Funds (CBF) to ensure that the local regions and communities that host renewable energy developments are able to share in the collective benefit. Given the anticipated high levels of offshore generation, the amounts involved will be substantial — approximately €8 million per annum from a typical 1GW offshore wind project, or almost €25 million per annum from the 3.1GW of capacity contracted under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS 1).

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 ORE. This Government and my Department continues apace to develop the solid foundation and the architecture required to introduce a new and long-lasting offshore renewable energy industry for Ireland.