68. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to provide an update on his Department's efforts in relation to projects under REPowerEU funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41455/24]

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Commission published the REPowerEU plan in May 2022 to end or reduce the reliance on Russian fossil fuels in EU member states by 2030.

The REPowerEU plan constitutes a dedicated chapter in Ireland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), and reforms made in line with the criteria set out in the REPowerEU Plan are set out in this chapter.

Multiple Departments across government contributed to the drafting of the REPowerEU chapter, with input from my Department on environmental, decarbonisation and reduction of reliance on fossil fuels reforms.

As part of the REPowerEU plan, additional National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) funding is provided to Member States in the form of grants and loans.

My Department examined the reforms and policies taken that were most in line with the criteria set out in the REPowerEU Plan and drew up a shortlist of investment projects and policy reforms that were most applicable. My Department participates in two major projects:

The SEAI/HSE Pilot Energy and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Project is an investment project being led by DECC. Funding totalling €48m over the period 2024-2026 was approved with allocations €3.3m for 2024, €26.9 for 2025 and €17.78 in 2026.

The SEAI/HSE Pilot Energy and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Project is the first deep retrofit of HSE sites and will be critical in terms of providing learning and experience to the HSE, which has a vast national estate portfolio. Work contracts have been signed for retrofit actions and works have commenced in five HSE estates and final design packs are being progressed. Tendering for the sites is taking place in Q4 2024, targeting works contractor appointments in Q1 2025.

In the REPower EU policy reform space, my Department is implementing a project to promote and accelerate the deployment of offshore wind renewable energy sources in Ireland. The reform aims to accelerate towards our target of 5 gigawatt (GW) of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030. There are several elements to the reform:

The first was completed in 2023 when I published a Policy Statement on the Framework for Phase Two Offshore Wind, ‘Accelerating Ireland’s Offshore Energy Programme’ . This Phase Two Policy committed to a State plan-led system, designating offshore maritime areas for offshore wind development and focussing on technology proven at scale in other jurisdictions, as this gives us the best chance of timely achievement of our targets.

On 10 October 2024, the Oireachtas approved the first designated area, the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan, focused on an area off the coasts of Cork, Waterford and Wexford. This South Coast DMAP identified four offshore maritime areas specifically for fixed bottom offshore wind development.

Early next year, my Department will launch an auction under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) to bring the first of these offshore maritime areas to the market. The Tonn Nua auction will seek a developer to build a 900 MW wind farm, with RESS financial supports.