Press release
Ireland and Scotland collaborate to advance the offshore wind opportunity
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
Irish and Scottish Ministers are joining companies and researchers and government departments and agencies in the offshore wind sector to promote collaboration between Ireland and Scotland in harnessing the full economic development potential of offshore wind in both countries and beyond.
Advancing the Offshore Wind Opportunity: Bridging Irish and Scottish Perspectives will explore opportunities for collaboration on joint initiatives, share expertise, and develop partnerships that can maximise the economic benefit of offshore wind energy to both countries.
Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, Peter Burke, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan and Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary are being joined by Scotland’s Minister for Climate Action, Gillian Martin MSP at the event, which is focusing on offshore wind supply chains, RDI & skills, and regulation, planning and infrastructure and is comprised of a series of policy roundtable discussions in Dublin today (Wednesday 12 June) and an industry showcase event in Cork tomorrow (Thursday 13 June).
The event is an action from the Department Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s recently published Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy.
At the core of Powering Prosperity is the ambition to build a successful, vibrant, and impactful new offshore wind energy sector by the end of this decade, and to ensure that sector creates significant value and up to 5,000 jobs in offshore wind energy and related industries for the people of Ireland.
Minister Burke said:
"It is great to have the opportunity to engage with Minister Martin, as well as with companies and researchers in the offshore wind industry across the two days. Ireland can make a real impact in the delivery of offshore renewable energy, both domestically and internationally. This week’s event with Scotland shows that we are serious about realising our ambitions to develop a successful and impactful offshore wind industry in Ireland, to be a world leader in this space in terms of building the capacity of Irish companies to work on international offshore wind projects and to be a global leader in research, development, and innovation in wind energy.
"We hope this event will lead to ongoing collaboration with Scotland in the offshore wind sector at governmental level and between companies and the research community. Both countries have ambitious targets in relation to offshore wind and, working together, we can achieve far more than going this road alone."
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, said:
"Ireland has taken a number of significant steps towards delivering offshore wind energy over the last year including our first successful offshore wind auction, the establishment of the Maritime Area Regularity Authority, the publication of our first Draft Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) for our South Coast, as well as the Future Framework for offshore renewable energy, and Powering Prosperity. Together these set a roadmap for how Ireland can create an offshore renewable energy sector of scale to achieve our climate and energy targets beyond 2030, while also bolstering the security and prosperity of the State.
"This event with Scotland demonstrates our commitment to working with like-minded countries in addressing common challenges, and developing joint solutions as we navigate the pathway to 37GW of offshore renewable energy by 2050. This is a big target for a country of our size, but it is achievable, and part of realising that will be to work with countries like Scotland in ensuring that all parts of the system, including regulation, planning and infrastructure, research and development, and supply chains are in place to deliver the windfarms."
Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary, commented:
"The development of offshore renewable energy is a priority for our government. By working together with international partners like Scotland, Ireland has the potential to excel in the offshore wind sector to the benefit of all parts of our country, and over time, of Europe too.
"Ireland has, over the past 20 years, demonstrated an ability to become a global leader in a number of sectors including digital and pharmaceuticals, and I firmly believe that by implementing our industrial strategy for offshore wind, and working collaboratively with international partners, such as our close neighbours Scotland, we will establish a similar global reputation in the offshore wind sector over time. I have very much enjoyed the discussions with Scottish counterparts over the course of this event and look forward to building on this into the future."
Ireland has one of the best offshore renewable energy resources in the world, providing a strong and consistent wind supply. To fully harness the vast potential for clean, renewable energy from our seas, a suite of policies across Government have been, or are in the process of being developed, to ensure offshore renewable energy (ORE) projects are delivered in line with the target to deliver at least 37GW of ORE capacity by 2050. A key enabler of these targets is the work of the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce (OWDT) chaired by DECC. DETE, in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, leads on the work of Workstream 7 under the OWDT, which is focused on the supply chain, and also sits on a number of the other Workstreams to feed into their work and the overall work of the OWDT.
Ireland’s target to generate at least 37GW of ORE capacity by 2050 is expected to be achieved primarily from offshore wind energy (OWE), and fits within the 260GW target by 2050 for OWE of the North Seas Energy Cooperation, of which Ireland is a member, the 300GW target by 2050 of the European Union and a 657GW global target. These targets represent a significant economic development opportunity for Ireland in terms of developing an OWE industry capable of serving both domestic and international projects and maximising the benefits of future renewable energy use.
Ireland, by 2030, will aim to:
The Strategy, covering 2024 and 2025, includes 40 actions including: