Housing crisis could hit ambitious Shannon Estuary plan
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A major plan for renewable energy development on the Shannon Estuary could be hindered by the chronic shortage of housing.
The Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce report suggested that up to 50,000 jobs could be created over the next 30 years to deliver the ambitious plan, but there are currently not enough homes to support this number of workers in the region.
“Housing is clearly part of the wider infrastructural need for the Shannon Estuary region and beyond if the offshore renewable energy opportunity across the Atlantic Seaboard is to be realised,” said chairman of the taskforce, Barry O’Sullivan.
The report has called for increased funding to update housing, water, and wastewater infrastructure to enable the renewable energy industry to thrive in the region.
“Each individual local authority has to be enabled to update their individual development plans so that housing targets correspond with the need so that we can attract people into the regions to live and work here,” said Mr O’Sullivan.
However, it is understood that the taskforce believes the current housing squeeze will be somewhat resolved by the time all of these jobs are created.
Meanwhile, others have expressed concern about the lack of infrastructure available to develop green energy in parts of Ireland.
During an Oireachtas committee last week, Catherine Joyce-O’Caollai, co-chair of the Policy Working Group with Hydrogen Ireland, told the committee that the plans for offshore wind off the coast of Cork and in the Shannon estuary have the potential to produce hydrogen at scale.
However, Ibec head of infrastructure, energy and environment, Neil Walker said Ireland is suffering capacity restraints around green energy development because the country’s “planning system is a car crash and it desperately needs to be reformed”.
A key recommendation to government in the taskforce report is the creation of a National Floating Offshore Wind Development Agency to ensure that the developments are completed.
The report indicated that around 10,000 jobs will be created by 2035 to develop 2 gigawatt (GW) of green energy capacity. The total 50,000 jobs will work towards installing up to 30GW by 2050.
The investment value of the entire viable wind resource off the Atlantic seaboard is estimated at up to €120bn, according to the report.
“We're talking about actually reshaping the Irish economy from east to west, counterbalancing the dominance of the East Coast. And this in many ways is an international project,” said Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment Simon Coveney.
The taskforce was appointed by government to assess the strategic strengths and comparative advantages of the Shannon Estuary and to scope out potential economic opportunities for the area.
Contracts have already been agreed to boost the renewable energy sector in that area, including the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ESB and Shannon Foynes Port, the company with statutory jurisdiction over all marine activities on the estuary.
This agreement will support the transformation of Shannon Estuary and surrounding areas into a major centre for the deployment of floating offshore wind projects in Irish and International waters.
The taskforce report was launched on the hydroelectric generating station at Ardnacrusha which was built around 100 years ago and helped with the rollout of the first national grid.