Only one port on island of Ireland ready to construct offshore windfarms

In July, as part of wider proposals meet climate targets and ease the country's reliance of fossil fuels, the Government committed to a 40% increase in targets for offshore wind farm energy by the year 2030.

Only one port on the island of Ireland is ready to be used for the construction of offshore windfarms, according to a new report.

The National Ports Study, published on Wednesday by Wind Energy Ireland (WEI), analysed the existing available infrastructure at 13 ports and harbours across Ireland and Northern Ireland. Of these, only Belfast Harbour was found to have the current capability to support the building of offshore windfarms.

The report, which was produced by Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions, is the most detailed analysis ever carried out of the readiness of Irish ports for the development of offshore renewable energy to date.

The ports reviewed for the report were:

• Port of Cork (Ringaskiddy), 
• Cork Dockyard, 
• Belfast D1, 
• Belfast Harland & Wolff, 
• Bremore, 
• Foynes Island,
• Galway, 
• Killybegs, 
• Larne, 
• Moneypoint, 
• Ros an Mhíl, 
• Rosslare Europort,
• Shannon-Foynes.

In July, as part of wider proposals to meet climate targets and ease the country's reliance on fossil fuels, the Government committed to a 40% increase in targets for offshore windfarm energy by the year 2030.

The increase will see energy production from offshore wind rise from five gigawatts to seven gigawatts.

Noel Cunniffe, CEO of WEI, says having only one port ready to support wind farm construction is not sufficient to meet this target.

We cannot build seven GW of offshore wind energy by the end of 2030 if we only have a single port on the island suitable for building offshore windfarms.

Mr Cunniffe said Ireland's other ports would require "relatively substantial" levels of investment, given space requirements, and their need for things like reinforced piers to help take the weight of the turbines and deeper waters to allow large vessels in to support turbine delivery.

"We in Ireland took a view not to develop offshore wind energy over the last 10 years, whereas many of our neighbours in the UK and EU progressed with offshore windfarms. So there are many ports in Europe and in the UK that have put in investment that we are crying out for in Ireland now," he told Morning Ireland.

Mr Cunniffe acknowledged that Environment Minister Eamon Ryan was "taking this seriously."

However, he said that with only eight years to deliver seven gigawatts of offshore wind energy there was "growing concern throughout industry" that some projects may have to be built from outside of Ireland or that there would be need "a wait for availability in Belfast.” 

Belfast Harbour was the only port on the island of Ireland with sufficient infrastructure to support offshore windfarm construction. File Picture: PA

WEI's report, which will be delivered at its Annual Offshore Wind Energy Conference in Dublin this afternoon, called for further support from the Government to help de-risk the level of upfront investment and "plug any funding gaps."

It also called for clarity on the emerging offshore planning system, as well as timescales to give confidence to investors looking at the detailed infrastructure plans brought forward by ports.

Lastly, the WEI report urged Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien to instruct An Bord Pleanála to prioritise planning applications related to renewable energy, particularly those involving port infrastructure.

"We need to be able to build more than one offshore wind project at the same time if we are to have any chance to deliver the carbon emissions cuts that the Government wants and that climate action requires," Mr Cunniffe added.

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