Shannon Foynes port investing €28m to make it an offshore wind hub

Shannon Foynes moves closer to its goal of being a hub for offshore wind projects

Ronan Keane, Construction Director NIARON, John Carlton, Engineering and Port Services Manager Shannon Foynes Port Company, Francis Cleary, Contracts Manager NIARON and Niall Keane, Health Safety Environmental Quality Manager NIARON. Pic Arthur Ellis.

The Shannon Foynes Port Company has announced a record €28m investment in jetty infrastructure and a port logistics park in what is seen as a significant step in transitioning the Shannon Estuary into a major international renewable energy supply-chain hub.

Offshore wind energy is seen as a key component of Ireland's transition away from fossil fuel energy. As a result, the country's ports are racing to put in place the required infrastructure to build, install and maintain offshore wind projects. Allied projects include hydrogen production using excess renewable energy. A number of major offshore wind energy projects are currently planned in various locations off the Irish coast.

The new investment at Shannon is co-funded by Shannon Foynes Port Company and the EU’s 'Connecting Europe Facility’ (CEF).  It will the port's quayside area through the joining and infilling of two existing jetties delivering an additional 117m of jetty set down/storage area by linking the existing east and west jetties at the port.

Also included in the investment programme is the development of one of the country’s largest logistics buildings for bulk and unitized freight. The 127,000 sq ft facility will be the key element in a new 38 hectares port logistics park that will have the potential for a future 400,000 sq ft of modern logistics warehousing over the coming decade and a half.

Planning permission and foreshore consents for the developments, which amount to the largest ever financial commitment in civil works by the port company, have been secured, with work already underway on the new jetty and associated set down area following construction procurement. Work on the logistics park, which will become the largest building at the Tier 1 international port, will commence in the third quarter of this year, with all works completed in the first half of 2024.

Pat Keating the Chief Executive of Shannon Foynes Port said their objective to be the supply chain facilitator for future floating offshore wind energy projects in the Atlantic and the related hydrogen production would be transformational in terms of Ireland's climate action targets, the national economy and energy security.

"This investment reflects the unprecedented opportunity for the Shannon Estuary and Shannon Foynes Port Company. It represents the next stage of implementation of our investment programme and, importantly, lays the foundation for further required scalable capacity investments to accommodate growth in both the offshore renewable sector and the transport sector," he said.

A study conducted by the port company found estimates that up to €12bn in supply chain investment could be located on the Shannon Estuary by 2050, with an opportunity to create up to 30,000 jobs.

“We have some of the most consistent winds in the world off the west coast, the technology now in place to harness those winds through floating offshore wind and, in the Shannon Estuary, the deep and sheltered waters necessary to build the floating devices before they are brought out into open ocean waters," Keating said. 

"The world’s leading players in this space want to invest here and leading nations, such as Germany, want the green hydrogen we can generate from this almost limitless renewable energy. But for all this to happen, we need to invest heavily in our infrastructure and the plans we are announcing today are significant step in that regard.”

John Carlton, Engineering and Port Services Manager at Shannon Foynes said the logistics park will be a game-changer for bulk and containerised goods in Ireland. "There is unanimity around the need to counterbalance and build resilience in the national supply chain and, in keeping with the National Development Plan, a key facilitator of this is to promote regional development by optimising capacity outside the congested east coast," he said.

"Developing modern logistics facilities at the deep-water port of Foynes provides new logistics solutions for the western half of the country, offering more efficient and sustainable market access for importers and exporters alike by reducing the ton per kilometre travelled.” 

Shannon Foynes Port Company Chairman David McGarry added: “When we launched our Vision 2041 masterplan in 2013, it was seen as a hugely ambitious strategy, yet we have reached its growth targets. The record investment we are announcing today, which is our biggest single commitment yet, is the latest but a key element of that masterplan.”