Industry body warns Republic may lose out on offshore projects without State intervention
Projects Said An Offshore Energy Wind "economic Wind Are Ireland, For Ireland Opportunity"
The Republic may lose out on offshore wind investments as the only port on the island that is currently fully equipped to be a construction base for wind farms is in Belfast, a new report shows.
The report by industry representative group Wind Energy Ireland urged the State to introduce long sought after investment into offshore wind developments so Ireland does not miss out on an "economic opportunity”.
“We do not have a single port in the Irish Republic capable of being used to build an offshore wind farm and while Belfast Harbour is an outstanding facility, we cannot simultaneously build all of the offshore wind farms that we need from a single location,” said Wind Energy Ireland chief executive Noel Cunniffe.
Several ports, including Rosslare, Cork Dockyard and Shannon-Foynes have plans to expand their port infrastructure so they can be used to build offshore wind farms, but these improvements require significant amounts of investment.
The lobby group warned that without ramped-up investment into the sector, Ireland will miss its 2030 climate targets, developers will look elsewhere to build wind farms and the country will lose potential jobs.
Mr Cunniffe said:
Offshore wind developments can apply for the EU-backed Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) competitive funding tool, however, this “is not a silver bullet”, said the report. CEF is used by many during the early stages of projects, as private investors view these as at-risk especially due to the lack of visibility on revenue streams.
Wind Energy Ireland suggested that early stage funding could be facilitated through government grants, such as the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). The report said this could lead to projects availing of both Isif’s commercial investment alongside CEF.
Wind Energy Ireland also argued that government involvement in offshore renewable energy infrastructure will increase confidence in the sector and reduce the risk associated with the port projects, making private investors more attracted to these developments.
“Support from the Irish Government would de-risk upfront investment and could plug any funding gaps,” said Paul Doherty, executive director of Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions.
“This support could be in the form of direct funding from the Exchequer, a low-interest loan scheme or access to funding vehicles such as ISIF and the European Investment Bank,” he added.
The report called 'We can build them: Supporting Irish ports to build offshore wind farms' was published weeks after the Government controversially introduced new regulations which could become further stumbling blocks for offshore wind targets to be met by 2030.
One of the new regulations requires that all future offshore wind farms must be built in Designated Marine Areas, which have yet to be identified and may not be for 18 to 24 months.