Delays could cost Ireland billions in wind investment

IRELAND’S wind energy sector is in “a very precarious position” and could lose billions of euro of investment, due to ongoing delays in the approval of subsidies.

That was according to Kenneth Matthews, who spoke ahead of this week’s Irish Wind Energy Association annual conference in Killarney, Co Kerry.

The association chief executive said delays in the awarding of Ireland’s renewable energy feed in tariff subsidies from Europe would top the agenda.

He said delays in the approval of European Commission state aids were giving competing nations, which already had comprehensive supports of their own, an edge over Ireland and could divert investment away from the country.

“Unfortunately, because of the delays in the subsidies programme, we don’t have a stable policy framework that provides investors with transparency and certainty they need to make their investment.

“This is a very precarious position, as they will not put their money into a market that lacks certainty, irrespective of what the potential from the sector is here, or how unique our wind resources are.”

The subsidies programme provides a guaranteed reference price for renewable energy and is essential to enabling the development of renewable energy here.

The wind energy group has estimated that about 28,000 jobs could be created if Ireland became a wind energy export nation — but only if the country gets its support schemes and regulatory framework in place.

Mr Matthews said: “Such is our concern over the delays, that we’re now worried that not alone will we not deliver on the full potential of the sector, and lose out on thousands of jobs in the process, but may even fail to meet our 2020 targets.”