Ireland ‘must grasp energy jobs’

IRELAND urgently needs to develop east coast wind and wave farms or risk losing renewable energy jobs to its rivals in Britain, warns one industry expert.

Speaking at the Renewable Energy Summit in Dundalk yesterday, Matthew Knight of Siemens Energy said most big energy corporations already view the Irish Sea as a single market.

“Ireland will have to get in early to maximise the job-creating opportunities in the Irish Sea,” said Matthew Knight, business development manager for Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd (widely known as Siemens Energy).

“Ireland has a lot of projects planned for the Irish Sea. It needs to get its east coast plans off the drawing board and into production. It must attract industry clients, and to do it quickly. The first ones to move will be the winners.”

The Siemens expert said Irish waters have the biggest wave heights, greatest tidal flows and strongest winds in Europe. Under international maritime agreements, Ireland owns a large share of the best offshore renewable resources in Europe.

A link between Irish Sea neighbours would also make great sense, allowing each country to feed off the other’s grid during calm days. For instance, an interconnector could link Irish windfarms in Arklow and the Welsh grid in Codling.

Equally mutually beneficial would be a North-South offshore interconnector and the development of an alliance of interests with Scotland, Wales and Isle of Man.

By 2050, the infrastructure could include the Atlantic, other marine renewable technologies and more interconnection as part of an EU-wide supergrid linking to solar thermal plants in Southern Spain. Ireland could be trading renewable power, with Irish companies active in both Irish and British waters.

Scotland is planning a wind energy grid which will deliver 7GW of energy to the Britain via submarine cables.

“Ireland is nearer to England than Scotland,” said Knight. “That must make Ireland more attractive. But Ireland must act fast. Ireland could easily build 10GW of offshore wind by 2050 with an investment of €30 billion (includes grid connections and interconnectors).

“In the same way that Norway exports its gas and North Africa exports its solar power, Scotland and Ireland could both become exporters of wind and wave energy to Europe.”

The ‘Gate’ system connecting energy developments to the national grid works well for onshore wind farms, but it does not deliver Ireland’s full off-shore wind potential.

“We think that the bigger offshore developments need to be fast-tracked.”