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. 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.

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 project-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.

Following a detailed assessment process, I awarded Maritime Area Consents (MAC) to Phase One projects in December 2022, including five projects on the East Coast. 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.

Three of the Phase One projects have submitted planning applications in recent weeks with the other projects expected to submit their formal planning application shortly. The Phase One projects are aiming to be operational by 2030.

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.

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.