The Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney has announced plans to develop a National Industrial Strategy for Offshore Wind.
This which will set out how Ireland can maximise the economic opportunity arising from the production of offshore wind in order to meet its targets of 5GW by 2030 and a further 2GW of floating wind to be in development by 2030.
The total target for offshore wind rises to at least 37GW by 2050.
In order to deliver the enterprise opportunities associated with these targets, a collaborative approach between state and industry is needed, Coveney said.
The announcement sets out the government’s plan for achieving this.
The National Industrial Strategy for Offshore Wind will aim to ensure that Ireland fully captures the value of both the supply chain to deliver an offshore sector at scale, and the routes to market for this renewable energy, he added.
It is expected that the National Industrial Strategy for Offshore Wind will be published in Q1 2024 and complement the suite of upcoming government policies led by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications through the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce.
Minister Coveney said: “The impact of recent geopolitical events on the European energy market has accelerated our decarbonisation ambitions and added real urgency to transitioning to clean, renewable energy.
“Ireland has an internationally recognised significant offshore wind resource which we are now beginning to develop.
“It is essential to ensure that our enterprise sector is ready to contribute to the delivery of offshore wind, while also maximising the economic benefit which will arise from the availability of abundant clean, renewable energy.
“Today’s announcement is an important step towards developing new, regionally dispersed economic opportunities based on offshore wind, and I very much look forward to working with colleagues across government and industry over the coming months as we develop an industrial strategy that will deliver real long-term benefits to both the economy and society.”