7/12/23, 10:43 AM Ireland’s offshore wind ambitions in a sea of red tape

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Ireland’s offshore wind

ambitions in a sea of red tape
While it is one of the smallest members of the
EU, Ireland has a maritime area seven times the
size of its landmass, giving it unique access to
the powerful Atlantic winds that rap the Irish 
coast


Ireland launched its first offshore wind auction in April, soliciting bids from seven
major energy industry players to build new state-subsidized wind farms mostly
along the eastern coast. Pic: EDF Renewables

WED, 10 MAY, 2023 - 08:41

PETER O’DWYER

On the morning of October 19, a storm swept across the

Irish Sea. Intense rains battered the country with flash
flooding, and just over 100 miles south of the Irish east
coast, a bolt of lightning struck one of the seven turbines
at the Arklow Bank wind farm, setting it ablaze.

Onlookers watched
Microsoft as dark
to cut up tosmoke
70 Irishbillowed from round
jobs in latest the of redundancies
towering turbine and bright red flames licked its still-
swirling blades. Then it went offline. In one fell swoop, a READ NOW

https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/companies/arid-41135662.html 1/10
7/12/23, 10:43 AM Ireland’s offshore wind ambitions in a sea of red tape

seventh of Ireland’s offshore wind generation was

knocked out of production.

For decades, Ireland has had big plans to exploit the

incredible natural advantage afforded by its position on
the edge of Europe. While it is one of the of the smallest
members the EU, it has a maritime area seven times the
size of its landmass, giving it unique access to the
powerful Atlantic winds that rap the Irish coast.

“The energy that you can capture from wind farms off the
west coast of Ireland is significantly more than the energy
you can potentially capture elsewhere in Europe,” said
Barry Kilcline, Ireland head of offshore at SSE Renewables,
which has entered a bid to build a second, larger wind
farm in the Arklow area. 

But that has not happened. When Arklow Bank went live
19 years ago it was intended to be a template for future 
wind farms. Yet no new farms have been built in Ireland
since it was completed, and the country’s electricity grid is 
long overdue for an upgrade.

There are many reasons as to why the sector failed to take 

off — the main focus was long on onshore wind farms,
with Energy Minister Eamon Ryan observing that in 2004 
onshore wind cost “half if not a third” of the price of
offshore. Moreover, for years rather than create any
substantial policy around offshore development, Ireland
let the UK subsidise offshore wind to bring down the cost.

Now, Ireland’s government is embarking on an ambitious

effort to build up the country’s offshore resources, with
the ruling coalition having made climate a top priority and
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine driving up energy prices. By
2050, the country is aiming to have at least 37 gigawatts of
installed capacity — nearly as much offshore wind as
France plans to have by that year (40 GW) for a population
a tenth of the size. That would enable it to secure its

energy independence, meet climate goals and, as Mr
Microsoft to cut up to 70 Irish jobs in latest round of redundancies
Kilcline put it, make Ireland “the Saudi Arabia of offshore
wind for Europe”. READ NOW

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7/12/23, 10:43 AM Ireland’s offshore wind ambitions in a sea of red tape

If it continues to wait, the stakes are high. The country

would blow a hole in its climate targets, jeopardize its tilt
toward energy independence, squander a valuable
potential revenue stream and watch while thousands of
jobs are created elsewhere.

Ireland launched its first offshore wind auction in April,
soliciting bids from seven major energy industry players to

build new state-subsidized wind farms mostly along the
eastern coast. The process will be completed in early May
and the companies responsible for the successful 
proposals will be notified by Ireland’s energy planning
authority in mid-June. 

The completion of a wave of new wind farms would be a

significant step towards Ireland meeting its goal of getting 
80% of its power from renewables and halving its
greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade. The
seven gigawatts of energy that Ireland plans to capture by
2030 through the initial batch of wind farms is expected to
power 4.7 million homes per year — more than twice the
country’s 2.1 million — and represents less than a tenth of
what experts say could be the total amount it will
eventually generate.

These prospects have caught the eye of many of the

biggest players in the green energy sector.

Leading Norwegian and French renewable energy 

developers Fred Olsen Seawind and EDF Renewables have
Microsoft to cut up to 70 Irish jobs in latest round of redundancies
teamed up for a proposed farm off the eastern coast.
Sydney-based Macquarie Group, through its dedicated READ NOW

offshore wind company Corio Generation, also has plans

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7/12/23, 10:43 AM Ireland’s offshore wind ambitions in a sea of red tape

to develop in Irish waters, as do Dublin-based Mainstream

Renewable Power and SSE Renewables, among others.
Ørsted, the Danish multinational power company, has
registered several Irish companies linked to possible wind
farms.

There is “massive opportunity” in Ireland, said TJ Hunter,

Ørsted Ireland and UK Senior Director. 

For now, plans remain fragile, if intact. Developing a 

robust green sector relies on a delicate ballet of generating
investor confidence and financial incentives while

maintaining a consistent regulatory framework. Although
Ireland has recently passed and proposed further
planning laws and established a new national agency to 
regulate its waters, it is still struggling to get that mix right.

The country’s planning system remains in chaos, with

projects facing inordinately long timelines for decisions to
be issued. Critics have questioned whether the state
agency responsible for assessing novel offshore projects
has the expertise to do so. The grid also needs significant
capacity upgrades, as it is, according to Mr Hunter, only
“marginally fit for purpose.” The recent departures of two
high-profile private-sector partners has further dampened
optimism around offshore. Norwegian state-owned
multinational Equinor pulled out of a wind farm project off
the southwest coast of Ireland in late 2021 and Shell

followed last year. While neither explained their decision,
Microsoft to cut up to 70 Irish jobs in latest round of redundancies
both were regarded as having grown tired with the slow
pace of progress. READ NOW

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7/12/23, 10:43 AM Ireland’s offshore wind ambitions in a sea of red tape

Then, in March, the Department of Energy announced that

going forward the state, rather than developers, would
choose the location of future wind farms, creating
confusion about whether existing projects would be
allowed to proceed.

To developers and potential investors, this news landed

like a bomb. The move was a “radical change,” according
to industry group Wind Energy Ireland, that would
“undermine” efforts to achieve Ireland’s offshore targets.
Mr Kilcline, the SSE Renewables Ireland head of offshore,
said the “U-turn” had put Ireland at a “significant
disadvantage” by sowing doubt about the policy
framework in which companies were operating.


“We’ve done various environmental surveys, we’ve done
site investigations, we’ve spent several million euros,” Mr
Kilcline said of one project, the Setanta Wind Park off
Ireland’s northeast coast. “And now, we’re in a position
where we don’t know whether that project is going to
progress or not.” Angela Larkin, Ireland project lead at
Ocean Winds, which is currently developing two Irish
offshore projects, echoed this sentiment. “It’s really
important that they accelerate the publishing of those
[locations],” she said.

For Ireland to pull ahead, said Mr Hunter, policy, planning

and grid development capacity had to be aligned.

Microsoft to cut up to 70 Irish jobs in latest round of redundancies
“We just need to stitch them together, I can’t
overemphasize that point,” he said. “There needs to be READ NOW
coherence in these; they need to work together to move in

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7/12/23, 10:43 AM Ireland’s offshore wind ambitions in a sea of red tape

the right direction so that one doesn’t trip up the other

and they need to give investors confidence and certainty.”
Speaking last month at a wind energy summit in the
Belgian city of Ostend, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described
going all in on offshore as “a huge economic opportunity”
that would “pay for itself” — albeit after billions of initial
investment is committed. A recent analysis by Scottish
consultancy firm Biggar Economics found that in the
Atlantic region alone, the offshore wind sector could
support between 2,000 and 5,300 jobs and generate
between €170m and €400m in gross value added within
the next 14 years.

Polls suggest that these views are broadly shared. An

industry-commissioned survey published in February
found that 79% of people supported offshore wind energy 
in Ireland, and less than a third felt that the country was
doing enough to capitalize on the sector’s potential.

- Bloomberg


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