Offshore Wind Energy

Ireland’s offshore renewable energy (ORE) targets are ambitious. Building on 2030 targets of 5 Gigawatts (GW) of grid-connected offshore wind plus an additional 2GW of non-grid connected offshore wind in development, by 2040, we aim to deliver 20GW of ORE, and by 2050, this rises to 37GW, which is approximately six times our current peak electricity demand.

The scale of these targets is a strong signal of Ireland’s clear potential to become a global leader in ORE. Ireland has the unique advantage in Europe of an expansive Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which is around seven times our landmass, a frequent and powerful wind resource offshore, and a strong history of cultivating world-leading industries. Our potential to produce ORE that exceeds our domestic demand positions Ireland at the core of Europe’s renewable energy future.

This presents a once in a generation opportunity for our enterprise sector to contribute to the delivery of these ambitious targets. Ireland’s target to generate 37GW of ORE by 2050 represents approximately seven times our current energy demand. This fits within the context of the 260GW target by 2050 of the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) countries, of which Ireland is a member, the 300GW by 2050 target of the European Union and the 657GW global target. Ireland has the opportunity to develop an ORE sector to serve our growing domestic needs and to grow an ORE industry of a scale that can compete globally.

Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy

Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy is the first strategy of its kind for Ireland. It aims to build a successful, vibrant and impactful offshore wind energy industry in Ireland, ensuring that the sector creates as much value as possible throughout Ireland and maximises the economic benefits associated with government ambitions to deliver its 2030, 2040 and 2050 offshore wind targets.

Powering Prosperity includes 40 actions that will be implemented in 2024 and 2025. The strategy was developed as part of close ongoing collaboration between the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and other government departments and agencies within the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce (OWDT).

Core pillars

The strategy is anchored on 4 core pillars:

Offshore wind supply chains: to build capacity and capability to develop the offshore wind farms that deliver on the 37GW target and give Ireland an edge in exporting products and services related to offshore wind energy (OWE)
Research, development and innovation: to give Ireland a competitive cutting edge in new technology and know-how for the sector
Balanced regional economic development opportunities: to drive growth from OWE in line with the Programme for Government priority of enabling all parts of Ireland to thrive so that Ireland as a whole can prosper
Future demand and end uses for offshore renewable energy: for example, to develop new Green Energy Industrial Parks, which can attract major foreign direct investment, establish new indigenous green businesses and serve as test beds for green technological innovation to power the Irish economy of the future

Key ambitions

The strategy sets out 10 ambitions that the various actions are designed to deliver.

Ireland, by 2030, will aim to:

Develop an innovative enterprise ecosystem, with indigenous and multinational companies, that will provide world-leading service to the offshore wind sector.
Dramatically scale up the enterprise base that will service the offshore wind sectors in Ireland and around the world.
Deliver up to 5,000 jobs in the offshore wind sector and related industries.
Maximise opportunities for companies and investors to develop a vibrant and successful supply chain.
Proactively assist enterprise, workers, and the RD&I ecosystem in availing of these opportunities through targeted funding and supports.
Seek to establish an OWCE and a new Floating Offshore Wind Demonstrator to support growth and innovation.
Pursue strategic partnerships with like-minded countries in Europe and beyond.
Work with stakeholders to develop world-class property solutions powered by renewable energy.
In collaboration with other Departments, develop major industrial hubs around key deployment and O&M ports.
Transform Ireland’s regional capability, and deliver opportunity for the people of Ireland, throughout Ireland, by developing industrial hubs and balanced regional economic growth.

Actions

The following actions are planned for delivery in Q2 2024:

Action 10: Establish and implement a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between EirGrid and relevant enterprise agencies

In progress.

Action 16: Work closely with DETE and other departments to ensure the appropriate support mechanisms and funding schemes are in place to support the development of international offshore wind FDI

In progress.

Action 20: Promote Ireland as a high potential OWE market through ministerial trade missions and active participation in international conferences, trade shows and other major OWE sectoral events, including though engagement with industry representative bodies

In progress - DETE, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, along with other members of the Offshore Delivery Taskforce, and industry reps participated in the WindEurope Annual Event between 20 and 22 March 2024 in Bilbao, where Powering Prosperity was introduced to the international audience alongside updates from DECC. This was the first time that Ireland had a country pavilion at the event where there was very positive engagement with international companies in the offshore wind sector.

Action 23: Establish an annual joint event with Scotland aimed at promoting inter-governmental dialogue and engagement with industry in the area of renewable energy

Complete.

DETE Offshore Wind Industry Forum

The DETE Offshore Wind Industry Forum was established in 2023 and is comprised of representatives from Wind Energy Ireland (WEI), Marine Renewables Industry Association (MRIA) and a panel of company representatives from the offshore wind supply chain. The forum is tasked with supporting the continued development and implementation of Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Industrial Strategy for Offshore Wind by ensuring alignment with the overall work of the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce and the implementation of the White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030.

The objectives of the forum are to:

Ensure the development of an innovative enterprise ecosystem capable of maximising the supply chain opportunities of OWE.
Address and mitigate any risks to the achievement of government OWE targets arising from national and international supply chain constraints.
Proactively boost innovation in the supply chain through targeted research, development and innovation (RD&I) initiatives.
Ensure use of existing supports is maximised while implementing complementary initiatives where gaps in support are evident/emerge.
Establish both indigenous and export demand for energy derived from OWE including attracting green industrial activity of a quality and scale that can position Ireland as a world leader in competitive, decarbonised industrial growth.
Transform Ireland’s regional capability and deliver opportunities for the people of Ireland throughout the county by developing industrial hubs and balanced regional economic growth.

Offshore wind energy