Germany's 'Mr Hydrogen' endorses Shannon Foynes offshore wind potential

The west coast's wind potential is examined for hydrogen production

Pat Keating CEO Shannon Foynes Port Company with Stefan Kaufmann. Picture Arthur Ellis.

One of Europe's most influential green hydrogen figures has visited the Shannon Foynes port to back the region's plans to develop new infrastructure to transition away from fossil fuels.

Dr Stefan Kaufmann, Germany’s Innovation Commissioner for Green Hydrogen and Bundestag member, visited Foynes in recent days where he endorsed the estuary’s potential as a key driver in hydrogen production.

The west Limerick town and port is earmarked as the epicentre for the development of international scale floating offshore wind technology on the west coast and associated hydrogen production. Green hydrogen is set to become a major driver for a decarbonised future, replacing natural gas, diesel and gasoline used in ships, trucks, buses, and cars, as well as a large scale industrial power source and potentially district heating systems.

Germany is set to become a global green-hydrogen leader with a national strategy providing for a total €9bn of support for setting up a hydrogen economy by 2030. The country plans to have 5GW of installed electrolysis capacity by 2030.

The Shannon Estuary and its accessibility to the potential 75GW Atlantic wind resource could facilitate the vast environmental and economic opportunity from harnessing the west coast’s almost unrivalled wind capacity through floating offshore wind installations and, in turn, using the energy generated to create green hydrogen.

Dr Kaufmann and his officials met with Chief Executive of Shannon Foynes Port Pat Keating to discuss opportunities for cooperation and collaboration in order to advance Ireland’s and Germany’s mutual ambitions in this regard. "Germany is on a trajectory to become a hydrogen republic," he said. "We aim to be the global leader in green hydrogen technologies. Green hydrogen comes from renewable resources and while we don’t have the wind energy potential of other regions, not least here on the west coast of Ireland, we do have the know-how for establishing sustainable, secure and efficient energy systems of the future."

“I wanted to come to Foynes to get a deeper understanding of the potential here and the opportunity is undeniable because of the wind power available off the coast, the deep estuary waters which are essential for development activity, the available land bank and the port authority’s ambition and strategic approach."

“There is an incredible opportunity here. I’ve been very impressed and am looking forward to developing an Irish-German-relationship," he said.

Shannon Foynes Port CEO Pat Keating said green hydrogen can play a central role in tackling the emerging climate crisis.

"Germany has huge ambition when it comes to hydrogen and a strategy to go with it. It is a global leader also in relation to transporting gases, so we have a huge amount to learn from it. Given its focus on becoming a hydrogen powered economy, but also that it does not have the capacity to produce the required quantities of hydrogen itself, there is a huge opportunity for us to export our energy there also.” 

He added: “We were delighted to welcome Commissioner Kaufmann. He has been referred to as Germany’s ‘Mr Hydrogen’, which says a lot, as does the German Federal Government’s commitment by having a Commissioner for Green Hydrogen. His knowledge and passion for the sector and its potential from an economic and environmental perspective is bottomless. We believe this visit is the start of a very positive relationship for us all.”

A report commissioned by the port company last year said Ireland could become a net exporter of renewable energy if it fully developed its offshore wind potential.

The report estimated the available wind resource that could be generated at up to 70GW of floating offshore wind energy with excess power being exported and the potential for green hydrogen production.

The Offshore Wind Potential Study, carried out by geotechnical engineering consultancy Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions, identified the potential to create up to 20,000 jobs in manufacturing and a further 10,000 industry jobs by 2050 through staging, installation, operations and maintenance of wind farms.

"Given the timelines to develop the required infrastructure, now is the time to commit the investment and ensure Ireland Inc. capitalises on the global opportunity as first movers in this exciting space."

The study states that the Shannon Estuary is best placed to service the future offshore floating wind market. The first Offshore Wind Farm sites in Ireland were all situated on the east coast, as they have fixed foundations. However, as the offshore floating wind technology becomes more efficient and the associated supply chain develops, the west coast of Ireland will become much more favourable. “The total potential capacity on the West coast dwarfs the East coast opportunity,” the report states.