Shannon Foynes opens €32m jetty extension
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The port of Shannon Foynes has unveiled its €32m jetty expansion and logistics park as it aims to establish the estuary as a floating offshore wind hub.
The two-year programme of works delivered an additional 117m jetty, and 12,000 square metres of setdown storage and also delivered one of the country's largest port logistics parks on a 38-hectare site with planning permission for extensive logistics warehousing units.
The record investment, which is co-funded by Shannon Foynes Port and the EU’s ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ (CEF), is a key element of the company’s Vision 2041 masterplan. Along with becoming a hub for offshore wind projects, the expansion also aims to make Shanon Foynes a freight logistics cluster that will, in particular, decongest the Irish supply chain network.
The port company's Ceo Pat Keating said they were building for the future. "We’re investing heavily in infrastructure that will do two things. One is to accelerate our journey as a nation to become a world leader in offshore renewable energy by harnessing our limitless wind energy capacity off the Atlantic seaboard. The second thing is that this same infrastructure will enhance our freight capacity massively by giving us extra quayside capacity and providing for one of the largest port logistics parks in the country," he said.
Irish Rail has already commenced work laying new track between Limerick and Foynes reestablishing the rail link and work continues on the development of the new Limerick to Foynes road, which will give motorway and dual-carriage way access direct to the port.
"We will have a Tier 1 port here that is amongst the most accessible in Europe. The net effect of that also is that we will now be within two and half hours of 75% of Ireland’s GDP," Keating said. "So, we not alone help power the economy, but we decongest it at the same time. That means business growth for this region, that means unprecedented access to freight goods for other regions and it also means decongestion of our capital city.”