Minister 'very confident' Port of Cork's offshore renewable energy plan will begin within three years
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The Environment Minister says the Government will be “pressing the go button very soon” on the development of multi-million offshore renewable energy facilities at the Port of Cork despite ongoing uncertainty over a €70m funding gap.
Eamon Ryan said the Government “wants and will see” the Port of Cork developing as a deployment port for renewable power, with the required infrastructure in place “within two to three years”.
However, talks to bridge a €70m funding gap are ongoing with warnings that unless the issue is resolved urgently, the delivery of the required port infrastructure at its Ringaskiddy deepwater facility is at risk.
The Port of Cork is the only Irish port with planning permission in place to build out its infrastructure to help facilitate the development of the offshore renewable energy (ORE) sector. The planning expires in October 2025.
Ireland has a target of 37GW of offshore wind by 2050 so there is an urgency to complete major infrastructure projects as Ireland aims to utilise offshore wind power to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
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But the Port of Cork went public on its funding concerns for its expansion last month after it emerged that logistics firm, the Doyle Shipping Group, opted against proceeding with the redevelopment of its Verolme dockyard facilities in Cork Harbour to service the ORE sector amid its own concerns about the commercial viability of that project in the absence of State grants.
The Port of Cork, a semi-State company which cannot avail of State aid, has warned that the expansion of its Ringaskiddy facilities to service the ORE sector was at risk unless a €70m funding gap was bridged before its planning expires.
Intense talks are underway between department officials and the Port of Cork about a possible funding package from the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). But any package that is agreed is money the port company would have to borrow at commercial rates.
When Mr Ryan was asked if the government would bridge the funding gap, he said: “We want and will see the Port of Cork developing as a deployment port for renewable power. It also needs to be the port where the power comes ashore, which it will, and we’ll see very significant industrial development using that clean power in a really clever way.
“We need port facilities to make that happen.” He said he is “very confident” that the port’s ORE plan will go ahead and will be in place “in the next two- to three-year period”.
He said further long-term developments will take place towards the end of this decade, at the Port of Cork, and at Rosslare and Waterford ports too. “So the Port of Cork is going to be central to the renewable energy transition,” he said.
“First up has to be the building in that Ringaskiddy site where we have planning permission, where the port is ready to go. We will be pressing the go button very soon.”
Last month, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said ISIF is “engaging intensively” with the Port of Cork on a possible funding package.