The Irish offshore wind industry has called for “greater urgency” from Dublin to support up to 5GW of potential new projects off the east coast, a second national sector conference will hear today.
Irish Wind Energy Association chief executive David Connolly said there is currently uncertainty about legislative and policy changes needed to unleash the sector.
Connolly, who will address today’s offshore wind conference in Dublin, said new marine consenting rules must be prioritised and “urgent financial support” is needed for the local supply chain.
The IWEA boss also called for new support scheme RESS to be opened as quickly as possible and for clarity on a grid connection policy for offshore wind.
Dublin has set a target to have at least 3.5GW of offshore wind online by 2030.
“Our industry is ready, willing and able to deliver the 3,500 MW of offshore wind energy by 2030 required in the Climate Action Plan,” said Connolly.
“But there is uncertainty about whether the legislative and policy changes needed to ensure offshore wind is harnessed to power our homes, businesses and economy are happening fast enough.”
He added: “It may be more than ten years to 2030 but that’s a very short space of time to build an offshore wind industry from scratch and there is absolutely no time to waste.”