Cork could lose out to France or Holland for offshore wind jobs, industry body warns 

Irish ports need to be brought up to speed to support the construction of offshore wind farms, Wind Energy Ireland says

Jobs that should be available in the likes of Cork and Wexford will be lost to France and Holland if Irish ports are not brought up to speed for offshore wind.

That is according to the leading industry body, Wind Energy Ireland, which has not been invited to participate in a Government port strategy designed to support facilities to be able to handle renewable activity around Irish shores.

Other than Belfast, Irish ports remain underprepared for what is coming, Wind Energy Ireland said.

This is despite the likes of Cork and Shannon being heavily touted by Environment Minister Eamon Ryan as areas that should be the big winners when it comes to offshore wind.

Wind Energy Ireland chief executive Noel Cunniffe told the Irish Examiner that Belfast, while world class, could not handle the requirements alone.

"Only one port on the island — Belfast Harbour — is suitable to support the construction of an offshore wind farm. It’s a world-class facility but it won’t be enough to build the 5,000 MW of offshore wind set as our 2030 target in the Climate Action Plan, nor the even greater ambition for floating wind energy off our southern and western coasts. 

"We urgently need support for other ports to ensure they are ready for the opportunities that will come in developing offshore wind. If we do not, we could see Irish offshore wind farms creating jobs in Cherbourg instead of Cork and in Rotterdam instead of Rosslare," he said.

The Programme for Government set a target of 70% of electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2030 and for 5GW of offshore wind by 2030. 

The Climate Action Plan published in November 2021 increased the target to up to 80% renewable electricity by 2030, while both plans aim for Ireland to "take advantage of the potential of at least 30GW of floating offshore wind power in our deeper waters in the Atlantic", according to the Department of Transport.

Wind Energy Ireland warned in its Harnessing Our Potential report in May 2020 that most Irish ports need to be bolstered to be able to handle offshore wind requirements.

However, industry bodies such as Wind Energy Ireland are not part of the Ports Coordination Group organised by the department to align policy and readiness, insiders have said.

Wind energy experts say that with phase 1 projects due for planning in the first half of next year, construction will likely begin in 2025 or 2026. It would also involve the likes of signing contracts with suppliers, including ports, before those dates, they said.

All those moving parts mean some firms will invariably look to Belfast and other European ports to handle their needs, they added.

Phase 1 refers to project applications, submitted to EirGrid in September 2020, for offshore wind farms predominantly off the east coast, but also on the west coast.

The phase 2 part of the plan refers to additional projects which can deliver by 2030, as phase 1 alone will not be enough for the Climate Action Plan's targets.

They would, for the first time, include the south coast. 

Organisations such as Wind Energy Ireland say it is for these reasons that industry should have been invited to the table for the port preparation and readiness consultation. Various Government departments and bodies like the Irish Maritime Development Office are part of the consultation.