Offshore wind and Shannon Estuary
Deputy Crowe highlighted offshore wind’s potential and questioned whether Irish ports and Clare’s designation can support the infrastructure needed. The Minister said the Shannon Estuary task force report is due soon and will address port redevelopment and offshore wind, including major investment at Shannon Foynes.
I wish to raise the issue of the huge potential of offshore wind energy to bring Ireland to a more carbon-friendly place and to make sure we meet our international obligations. This will be very lucrative in its construction phase. We heard many people on the airwaves over the Easter recess saying that the Irish ports are not configured at this time to be able to build or tow into place the infrastructure required, particularly for floating offshore wind platforms. What would the Minister say to that? We are also quite concerned in County Clare that the offshore designation we have for wind energy is far smaller than in other parts of the west. The greatest wind corridor hitting our west coast comes in by the Loop Head lighthouse and up along the Shannon Estuary. That is the area Ireland should prioritise for offshore wind. We already have the kV transmission lines from Moneypoint and that is where it should happen. I would really like to hear how the Government will support ports and harbours because if we do not take this opportunity, the likes of Rotterdam or Bremen will step in and seize this lucrative development opportunity.
Comment on this
As the Deputy knows, this Government set up a task force to look at the potential of the Shannon Estuary. My understanding is that in the next couple of months its report will come in. I have met that group on more than one occasion. It has a fantastic chairman who is very ambitious for the Shannon Estuary. A big part of that report will be around offshore wind and redeveloping the Shannon Foynes Port, which is going to involve hundreds of millions of euro in investment to make it ready to assemble some of the largest offshore wind energy infrastructure on the planet. We currently have a pipeline of approximately 27 GW worth of projects, which equates to €80 billion in capital investment. Investors want to be able to develop off Ireland's east, south and west coasts. We will have to do that in phases and with a State-led planning system, and that is what we are embarking on now. I assure the Deputy that the opportunities for the west of Ireland will be huge but they will take some time to deliver.