Ireland needs to install 1GW of offshore wind capacity by 2025, if the country is to meet the government’s target of 5GW by 2030, according to developer SSE.
SSE Renewables director of capital projects Paul Cooley (pictured) told the Energy Ireland Offshore Energy conference today that the new coalition government’s ambition to deliver an increased 5GW of offshore wind off Ireland’s eastern and southern coasts by the end of the decade is welcome.
However, this new scale must be delivered at pace and with immediate effect if targets are to be met, he said.
SSE said that 1GW by 2025 will get Ireland on track to meet the new 5GW target, as well as also contribute 2% of the new Programme for Government’s annual 7% reduction in Ireland’s overall greenhouse gas emissions between now and 2030.
Completion of the 520MW Arklow Bank project by SSE Renewables in the next five years will itself directly contribute to just over half the 2% reduction in carbon emissions that can be achieved by 2025, the company added.
Cooley said: “Installing operational offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea by the middle of the decade and within the lifetime of this government will be vital in maintaining the momentum for offshore wind energy initiated by last year’s Climate Action Plan and further committed to in the new Coalition’s Programme for Government.
“This is especially crucial if we are to establish an offshore wind energy industry in Ireland, including the development of an indigenous, job-creating supply chain.”
Cooley added that international market confidence in Ireland’s readiness to exploit offshore wind energy will be undermined by any perceived lack of urgency in developing the emerging energy sector here.
He said: “Ireland will need to compete in a highly-competitive global offshore energy marketplace if it is going to achieve the country’s new 5GW offshore ambition.
“Action is needed now if we are going to deliver the revolution in renewables promised in the Programme for Government.
“The commitment in the Programme to a first RESS auction for offshore wind in 2021 is hugely welcome.
“This auction must be delivered on time alongside the necessary grid connections policy to safeguard developer and market confidence that Ireland is finally open for business for offshore wind energy.
“Government and industry must collaborate strategically to achieve the new Programme for Government targets, and ensure we gain real momentum in the delivery of new offshore wind capacity by 2025 and 2030.
“In doing so we can outperform the 5GW target set for 2030, and finally begin exploiting the vast offshore wind resource around our island, establishing Ireland as a European and world leader in offshore wind energy.”