Ireland is ‘putting it up to Putin’ with a landmark move that could see seven offshore windfarms approved this year, says Environment and Climate Minister Eamon Ryan.
The Green Party leader revealed aboard a Geological Survey Ireland boat in Dublin Bay yesterday (MON) that applications for the first phase of new Maritime Area Consents (MACs) open in April.
He said the “huge opportunity” will help the country become energy-sufficient, meet its climate commitments and help drive down the rising costs of keeping the lights on.
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“Reliance on fossil fuels is expensive, is insecure [and] it doesn’t give us a secure economic or energy future,” explained Minister Ryan.
“This project to develop offshore wind to tap into what we have - which is probably one of the windiest locations in the world - is a huge opportunity for our country and starts today.
“We can run this even when the wind isn’t blowing,” he added.
“And increasingly the price will be set by renewables.
“The more we build the cheaper this is becoming.
“So far we’ve concentrated onshore but there’s a limit to what we can do... offshore we have scale and that scale will set the price and will be lower than fossil alternatives and will give us secure power.
“Never has it been more vital that we use our vast offshore wind resource to create renewable energy and ensure the security of our own energy supply.
“The door is now open for a number of developers to progress their offshore wind energy projects.
“We are seizing this opportunity to shape our own future, and move closer to energy independence.”
Ireland aims to produce up to 80% of its energy from renewables by 2030 including 5GW from offshore wind - which is enough to power around 5 million homes.
In a bid to deliver on those promises the new regulations will allow Minister Ryan to approve MACs for new wind farms as long as they meet the relevant planning, environmental and financial assessments until a new Maritime Area Regulatory Authority can be established next year.
Seven projects that progressed under the old Foreshore regime could benefit from the first new MACs expected to be issued in the second half of this year.
They include six offshore windfarm applications on the east coast and one off the west.
“This is the real opportunity for our country to switch away from fossil fuels and put it up to Mr Putin saying ‘we’re not going to use your gas in the future, we have our own supply’ - gas from hydrogen and offshore wind powering our cars, heating our homes, running our factories’,” the Minister told us.
“That’s the prize.”
He admits gas will be needed in the short term as Ireland makes the switch away from Earth-warming fuels for climate reasons.
“We will still be using gas in combustion,” he explained.
“Some of it will be green hydrogen from renewable sources. You could be using fossil fuel [gas] - but then that would have to be matched with carbon capture and storage.
“There are a variety of geological developments which will be part of the overall solution.”
But as far as he was concerned “the really big one, particularly when we are generating the likes of 30GW of offshore wind, the conversion of that to hydrogen through electrolysis increasingly is being seen as the solution which will allow us to have a modern economy, meet our climate targets and to have energy security.
“That’s what we have to aim for.”
Dun Laoghaire and Rathdown Cathaoirleach, Lettie McCarthy, welcomed the move which could see offshore turbines dotted across her horizon.
“I think it’s a necessary piece of infrastructure,” she told us.
“It would be lovely if you could leave everything as it was all the time but I think here, it’s going to be a lot more reliable than on the mountains. We have to explore all sides.”
Impact on marine life
Ireland’s maritime area is seven times the size of our landmass and with the help of Geological Survey Ireland, the Minister believes they can find the best places to put windfarms while protecting marine life.
Any plans for the new windfarms will have to meet all environmental regulations including any new Marine Protected Areas, once designated.
The wind farms could include both fixed and floating turbines.
Eoin MacCraith, senior GSI geologist, said: “You can use our data to find a good location to put a wind farm and you can even use it to find a location that you shouldn’t.
“It’s neutral data and it works in every direction so people can make responsible decisions using it.”
Applications open for an eight-week period from April 25-June 22.
The 7 Foreshore applicants include:
Oriel Wind Park
RWE (formerly Innogy Renewables - projects in Bray and Kish Banks
Codling Wind Park - 2 projects including Codling I and Codling II
Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta - Skerd Rocks
North Irish Sea Array Ltd - North Irish Sea Array
