The port of Shannon Foynes in Ireland has unveiled investment totalling €28m aimed at transforming the estuary into an international hub for floating offshore wind.
The investment, which is fully and co-funded by Shannon Foynes Port Company and the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility, will include expansion of quayside area through the joining and infilling of two existing jetties.
This will deliver an additional 117 metres of jetty set down/storage area by linking the existing east and west jetties at the port, substantially boosting existing quayside set down space.
Logistics buildings will also be developed.
The 39 square metre facility will be a key element in a new 38 hectare port logistics park that will have the potential for a future 122 metres square of warehousing over the coming decade and a half.
Planning permission and foreshore consents have been secured, with work already underway on the new jetty and associated set down area following construction procurement.
Work on the logistics park will start in the third quarter of this year, with all works completed in the first half of 2024.
Shannon Foynes Port Company chief executive Pat Keating said: “This investment reflects the unprecedented opportunity for the Shannon Estuary and Shannon Foynes Port Company.
“It represents the next stage of implementation of our investment programme and, importantly, lays the foundation for further required scalable capacity investments to accommodate growth in both the offshore renewable sector and the transport sector.
“For example, our objective to be the supply chain facilitator for an Atlantic floating offshore wind energy hub and related hydrogen production will be transformational in terms of our climate action targets, our national economy and energy security.
“We have some of the most consistent winds in the world off the west coast, the technology now in place to harness those winds through floating offshore wind and, in the Shannon Estuary, the deep and sheltered waters necessary to build the floating devices before they are brought out into open ocean waters.
“The world’s leading players in this space want to invest here and leading nations, such as Germany, want the green hydrogen we can generate from this almost limitless renewable energy.
“But for all this to happen, we need to invest heavily in our infrastructure and the plans we are announcing today are significant step in that regard.”