Ireland has commenced work on a new strategic framework to guide offshore renewable energy (ORE) development across its maritime territory, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has announced.
The National Offshore Renewable Energy Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP), announced by Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Darragh O’Brien, will seek to build on the momentum of the previously-approved South Coast DMAP.
‘Managed and sustainable’
“The use of strategically planned DMAPs will ensure that developments in Ireland’s maritime area take place in a managed and sustainable way,” Minister O’Brien commented.
“This supports our decarbonisation ambitions and our offshore renewables target of 20GW by 2040. Having a single National DMAP will accelerate the process of site designation for offshore renewable energy. Having a single National DMAP supports the Programme for Government commitment and will provide greater certainty for our marine stakeholders and the renewables industry.”
The announcement follows the news that one of six planned ORE projects in Ireland, Sceirde Rocks, off the coast of Connemara, was pulled by developer Corio Generation following recent storms along Ireland’s west coast.
Long-term planning
The introduction of a national DMAP will also support long-term planning across associated infrastructure, such as ports, grid systems and interconnectors, and other nodes along the supply chain, and will enable Ireland to “maximise our resources, in terms of financial, human and time,” O’Brien added.
A cross-government Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce has been developed to ensure that the development of offshore renewable energy is delivered across a number of phases, with Ireland keen to achieve at least 5GW of installed offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade.
Minister of State with special responsibility for the Marine, Timmy Dooley, added that Ireland has “one of the best offshore wind resources in the world”, with investment in this area having the potential to “create thousands of jobs and new investment opportunities by 2030 and beyond”.
Elsewhere, the Irish Whale And Dolphin Group has welcomed the government’s announcement, noting that the South Coast DMAP ‘took a strong “environment first, ORE second” approach. We trust that this will continue for the new National DMAP, and look forward to working with the Department throughout the process.’ Read more here.
