Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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40. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment for an update on offshore wind; the measures his Department is taking to accelerate delivery of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17831/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Climate Action Plan 2024 commits to achieving at least 5 gigawatts of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030. The Government's Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce is driving delivery of this objective. Our first offshore wind auction (ORESS 1) took place in 2023 and awarded supports to four projects. Two further projects, which were unsuccessful in the ORESS 1 auction, are pursuing a route to market by contracting with large energy users to provide them with clean renewable energy through corporate power purchase agreements. These six projects combined account for a total of 4.3 gigawatts. All six projects have now submitted applications for planning consent to An Bord Pleanála. Our second offshore wind auction for the 900 MW Tonn Nua site located in the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan will take place later this year, further contributing to our 5 gigawatts target. The Terms and Conditions for the Tonn Nua auction were published in October 2024. Following feedback from the offshore wind industry, I plan to make some technical updates to the Terms and Conditions and will publish that in the coming weeks. Separately, Eirgrid has recently published its interim Grid Connection Information pack for the Tonn Nua project, marking another important milestone in preparations for the auction.