Wind energy showing signs of momentum, but problems persist
Irish offshore survey company Green Rebel is continuing to grow its fleet, and has signed a long-term hire agreement with Glomar Offshore for the Glomar Vantage, as part of its continued expansion. Pictured are Green Rebel’s Conor Philpott, Head of IT; Kieran Ivers, CEO; and Alan Cott, Fleet Manager. Picture: Cian Ryan Green Rebel.
Cork company Green Rebel was originally established to deliver its survey and investigative services to the offshore renewable energy sector in Ireland, but policy changes means the majority of its work is done outside of the Irish market.
Kieran Ivers, Chief executive of Green Rebel, explained that a decision made by government last year automatically wiped €6.5m off its pipeline of potential projects and pushed it outside of the market.
“That entire market for us was wiped and we had to make a number of redundancies,” said Mr Ivers.
He explained that before government made changes early last year, policy in Ireland was driven by developers including Shell and native Irish companies like Simply Blue.
“They would identify a piece of sea bed and go and try to convince government through the planning process that this was a viable area for offshore wind,” he said.
This led to around 40 different investigation areas that were being identified for offshore renewable energy developments through the use of companies like Green Rebel.
Green Rebel carries out “geophysical” surveys where they look at a certain area of seabed and investigate the ecological impact of building offshore wind floating renewable energy projects in these specific areas while also informing developers on what kind of engineering design is needed.
The company also acquired airplanes which we they had at Cork Airport to carry out air investigations through agreements with Ireland Whale and Dolphin Ireland and Birdwatch Ireland to understand marine migrating patterns and bird flight patterns.
However, the Government’s “u-turn” in the first three months of 2023, where policymakers decided to go with a government plan-led approach, meant they would no longer be licensing companies like Green Rebel to carry out investigations and would acquire this data themselves.
The Government, through the State body Eirgrid, also outsources multinationals to provide the data to them which the Government then gives to interested parties who bid on specified areas of seabed.
For example, instead of using Green Rebel’s planes in Munster, planes from Denmark are being flown into Irish airspace to carry out investigations for renewable energy developments.
“Jobs are being created to support other countries, not Irleand,” said Mr Ivers.
Mr Ivers added that he saw the reasoning behind the plan, as many companies cannot provide all of the services that some of these multinationals do.
“In terms of longevity, the Government have made the right decision, however they were ill-equipped and still are ill-equipped to deliver on that,” he said.
“In reality, in government and the civil service they don’t have anywhere near the requisite qualifications or skillsets to deliver high level data acquisition across Ireland,” he added.
“It was a plan led with no plan but ultimately it is the right way to go, but has slowed down the entire industry,” said Mr Ivers.
Although the Government may have had good intentions in its decision, the slowdown for the renewable energy sector means that there is little hope of Ireland hitting 2030 climate targets, according to Mr Ivers.
“It will be 2035 at best,” he said.
Justin Moran, director of external affairs at Wind Energy Ireland, an industry representative group echoed this sentiment.
Mr Moran said the volume of projects that competed in the third renewable energy support scheme auction (Ress3) was “far lower than we need to be getting the Ress auctions if we’re to come anywhere close to our 2030 targets.” “We’re waiting to see the terms and conditions of the Ress4 auctions,” he added which could provide some relief to developers or cast a further dark cloud on future developments.
In the meantime, Green Rebel continues carry out work in other markets including countries like Scotland which has ramped up efforts to provide clean energy after historically relying on their offshore oil industry.
The are also eyeing up several potential projects in international markets such as the United States and Australia.
The renewable wind industry is also moving along in the Republic this, albeit at a somewhat underwhelming pace.
Mr Moran said new offshore wind project are going through the planning process before the end of June and all eyes will be on the second offshore renewable energy auction at the end of 2024.
However “the planning system is still that major chokepoint” he said.
“In the last four to six months there does seem to be indications that decisions are coming out of An Bord Pleanála more quickly and we’d like to see that continue and accelerate,” he said.
Hugh Kelly, chief executive of Cork headquartered offshore renewable energy developer Simply Blue Group also voiced concern about the “high risk” associated with the Irish planning system, which ultimately influenced the prices in Ress3.
“The Department (of Environment) has indicated that Ress4 will be closely aligned with the design of Ress3. Therefore, arguably, we can expect more of the same,” he warned.
Mr Kelly said there is scope for “fine-tuning criteria” in areas such as delivery timelines, price caps, and risk allocation to mitigate planning delays.
Mr Kelly suggested that the next offshore auction (Oress2) will have the opposite effect of the onshore auction if the design of Oress1 is kept.
“Oress1 was considered to be very successful with initial prices at €86/MWh,” he said.
Mr Kelly added however that the Oress2 auction for 900MW of capacity, set for later this year, “is likely to reflect risks and costs associated with planning, as well as issues specific to offshore development, including supply chain bottlenecks and their impact on project delivery.”
Meanwhile, Department of Enterprise assistant secretary Gary Tobin indicated in recent weeks that the State may rely on tech multinationals to drive the development of offshore wind in the Republic as tech companies are under growing pressure to procure clean energy for the use of electricity guzzling data centres.
Mr Tobin acknowledged grid capacity issues in the Republic, which have added to delays in the development of offshore wind farms, but hinted that he is aware of tech firms that are looking to develop wind farms privately.
“Some large energy users are already themselves exploring the potential for offshore wind and they are already in discussion with developers,” he said.
“These large energy users may not need to use the grid, they may use private wires,” he added.
Mr Kelly suggested that multinational involvement in offshore wind isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the industry.
“Offshore wind projects require billions of euros of investment, along with huge technical capability to develop infrastructure offshore,” he said.
Multinational companies including utilities, energy companies, and global financial investors, “play an important role in project development and delivery and are ready to step up and participate in the accelerated development of offshore wind”, said Mr Kelly.
“The wins include abundant and more reliable energy for consumers, sufficient energy for sustainable economic growth and, if we invest strategically, huge wins for Ireland in terms of related jobs and investment,” he added.
For now, the top priority for offshore renewable energy in the Republic is “certainty” from the Government around project development, according to Mr Kelly.
He is also seeking an acceleration of the roll-out of Designated Marine Area Plans (Dmaps) in 2025, and a sped-up planning process that will “give meaningful support for timely supply chain development.” “We are developing offshore wind because there is a climate crisis, a climate emergency,” said Mr Kelly.
He said his company are already witnessing climate change impact biodiversity and manifesting itself in forced migrations of peoples from affected areas.
“Meanwhile, in Ireland, we have already lost years as rules have been changed and the confidence of developers has been eroded,” he said.
“Developers who are investors in Ireland and have had to write-off millions as the goal posts have moved. While the Irish Government justifies delay by claiming, for example, that floating technology is not yet ready, willing developers including the ESB, and Equinor who has already left Ireland, are participating in leasing rounds overseas,” said Mr Kelly.
“Ireland is falling behind, unnecessarily. We need to catch up,” he continued.
Elsewhere, the European wind energy industry was shaken after the EU decided to launch an probe into subsidies received by Chinese suppliers of wind turbines set to be used in Europe.
European wind turbine manufacturers have come under scrutiny in recent times for charging high prices compared to Chinese rivals.
Speaking on this, Donal O'Sullvan, vice president for development and offshore with Statkraft Ireland, said: “in general getting the cost of wind, both onshore and offshore, down is a challenge and developers and suppliers need to consider all options but also ensuring that we operate within what is acceptable from a sustainability and human rights perspective.”
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