Ireland's offshore wind and fishing industries can co-exist, experts say 

“Fishermen are naturally and completely understandably suspicious and concerned,” said Mr White.

“There is pressure from all sides and in Ireland we just don’t have the control over our fisheries that we would like to have, because of all the international fishing in our waters.

But, by having some protected areas, actually the knock-on benefits can be huge.

Mr White has a PhD in marine zoology and runs the consultancy firm In Deep Business Growth. He was previously the CEO of Co Clare-based meteorological company Nowcasting, which recorded weather and ocean conditions for the offshore industry worldwide and which was sold in 2011.

“By reducing some of the very large-scale fishing efforts and going into small-scale fishing efforts and having these protected areas where wind- farms exist, you’re actually getting stock improvement and stock increasing,” he said.

Mr White said that the fishing port in Grimsby in the UK is an example of how fishermen and offshore wind developers can work side by side and, in some cases, transfer their skills.

“Not only are the fishermen there seeing benefits in certain types of fishing, but people who have been under pressure to make a living in fishing are using their same marine skills and transferring into very steady, very stable, very long-term, very well paid, highly-skilled jobs in the wind industry,” he said.

However, fishermen have said they are worried about the disruption that windfarm constructions can create, such as new noise which can impact some species of fish.

There are also concerns about offshore developments encroaching on fishing space.

Yet, Irish Fish Producers Organisation CEO Aodh O’Donnell said both industries “have the opportunity to co-exist, but it is just really important that the offshore renewable sector take advantage of new technologies to avoid the spatial squeeze”. He added: 

The offshore renewable sector needs to take into account the rights of fishermen. 

One Irish offshore wind development, backed by French company EDF Renewables and Norway’s Fred Olsen Seawind, recently pledged €500,000 to the local fishing industry around where the project is being built.

The Codling Wind Park said that the Fisheries Fund will have a €100,000 annual budget to support initiatives for the next five years to benefit the fishing industry operating within and around the Codling Bank area of the Irish Sea.

Meanwhile, Danish renewable energy company Orsted, which has been eyeing up opportunities in the Irish market, said it minimises the environmental impacts of its windfarms by using noise-mitigation screens and hydrosound dampers.

Mr White believes that the two sectors will be forced to work alongside one another if Ireland is going to make any headway in addressing the growing threat to the climate. He said: 

If we don’t do something to take on climate change, then change will just happen for these people and the downsides will be enormous with no upside.

The Irish wind energy sector is anticipating a boost this week as the results of Ireland’s first Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme auction are expected to be published on Thursday.

The process invites renewable energy projects to compete against each other to win contracts to provide electricity at a guaranteed price. There have been two onshore auctions to date, RESS 1 in 2020 and RESS 2 in 2022, and a third is planned for this summer.

However, the renewable energy sector continues to battle various obstacles in Ireland despite growing interest in it.

For example, planning applications for onshore windfarms are supposed to be decided by An Bord Pleanála within 18 weeks but, on average, are taking over a year to get a decision.