06 Nov 2024
Ireland is on track to reach 5,000 MW of installed onshore capacity before the end of the year. The announcement ws made as more than a thousand delegates arrived for the country’s second ever Wind Energy Trade Show.
The event takes place a week after the Government announced plans for a new offshore wind auction early in 2025 and as the first offshore projects in a generation enter the planning system.
The Trade Show, whose main sponsors are RWE and the Skillnet Offshore Wind Academy, will be opened on its second day, 7 November, by Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD.
Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “Ireland is a huge opportunity for investors combining arguably the best untapped offshore wind resource in the world, with a skilled workforce, decades of experience in onshore wind energy and an increasingly supportive policy framework.
“Our first wind farm was built in 1992 at Bellacorick in Co Mayo and today’s individual turbines are as powerful as that first Irish wind farm. Before the end of the year we will reach 5,000 MW of installed onshore wind capacity, reinforcing Ireland’s position as a global leader in onshore wind.
“These onshore wind farms support 5,000 jobs, invest tens of millions of euro into rural economies every year and provide clean, affordable, electricity to Irish families, businesses and communities. Every single turbine is an Irish success story.”
Offshore wind momentum
The Trade Show will also celebrate a series of recent positive developments in offshore wind energy.
In recent months the Government has published a new national industrial strategy for offshore wind that will put Ireland at the forefront of Europe’s energy transformation and a Future Framework setting out a policy vision for offshore wind post-2030.
Last month the Oireachtas approved the first ever Designated Maritime Area Plan for offshore renewable energy, with the Government confirming only last week that the second offshore wind auction is set for early 2025.
Noel Cunniffe continued: “In 2024 the first six offshore wind energy projects in a generation will apply for planning permission. Delivering all of these projects safely through the planning system must be a national priority.
“They are essential not just to reaching our 2030 climate action targets but to building the supply-chain for more fixed and floating wind energy farms in the next decade. Each of those projects is another building block laying the foundation of Irish energy independence.”
Strategic sponsor
RWE is, for the second year running, the Strategic Sponsor for the trade show. Vanessa O’Connell is Project Director for RWE’s Dublin Array offshore wind energy project and will participate in the keynote panel session on Wednesday morning.
Vanessa O’Connell said: “RWE is delighted to be a strategic sponsor at the Wind Energy Trade Show 2024. This event will bring key players in the global renewable energy supply chain together with Irish leaders, businesses and innovators.
“On a personal level, I’d like to thank the organisers for the opportunity to take part in the keynote panel Our journey to energy independence. Additionally, as part of the exciting two-day proceedings, RWE will be driving collaboration through the hosting of a roundtable event on marine cluster development.”
Challenges
The Wind Energy Ireland CEO acknowledged that while there is growing momentum behind the development of Irish wind energy, the industry also faces significant challenges.
Noel Cunniffe continued: “Too many good projects are being blocked in the planning system. Too much power is being lost as the electricity grid struggles to accommodate the volumes of energy our wind farms can produce.
“Fixing these twin problems should be top of the next Government’s agenda. It is now 2024 and long past time we had an electricity grid fit for the 21st century.
“The €750 million allocated in Budget 2025 to invest in grid infrastructure is extremely welcome, but along with funding must come vocal political support at every level.
“We need to see political leadership, from every party, whether in Government or in opposition, campaigning for more renewable energy projects and for a stronger electricity grid. That is how we cut energy bills and that is how we stand up for electricity consumers.”
Working together
The Trade Show will be attended by companies and delegations from all over Europe and the world, with particularly strong showings from Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States.
Noel Cunniffe continued: “Ireland is part of a renewable energy revolution taking place across Europe. Wind farms already provide more electricity than gas and are second only to nuclear as a source of power for European families and businesses.
“There is much that we can learn from our colleagues in other countries, particularly in the development of offshore wind, but also a lot that we can share as the continent’s onshore wind leader.”
