UK announces 33GW of Offshore Wind Energy – Ireland remains in cycle of paralysis on how to achieve its renewables' target

Irish
UK announces 33GW of Offshore Wind Energy – Ireland remains in cycle of paralysis on how to achieve its renewables' target
By Finfacts Team
Dec 10, 2007, 12:17

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In 2002 the world’s largest offshore wind farm was constructed off the Danish west coast. The Horns Rev wind farm is sited 14-20 km into the North Sea, west of Blåvands Huk, and represents the first phase in the Danish Government’s ambitious plan - to have wind turbines with a total capacity of 4000 MW in Danish waters before 2030.

Irish-based Offshore wind energy developers confirmed last month that they have projects at an advanced stage of preparation for the development of over 2,000MW of renewable energy in Irish waters at a capital cost of over €4 billion. The announcement was made by the five largest offshore wind companies in Ireland at the launch of NOW Ireland, a new organisation to promote the development of the offshore wind industry in Ireland.

NOW Ireland, the National Offshore Wind Association of Ireland has welcomed the announcement of the UK Government’s plan to develop a further 25GW (gigawatt) of energy through offshore wind by 2020 in addition to the 8GW already planned, but claimed the move provided a stark reminder of Ireland’s failure to focus on how we are going to reach our renewables' target. The delay is symptomatic of the cycle of paralysis that characterises Irish public decision making.

The UK Governments announcement, made today by Energy Secretary John Hutton, will put in place a framework through which there can be a substantial roll out of offshore projects in the UK. The new target of 33GW of offshore generation would be sufficient to power every home in the UK and would help to ensure that all emissions targets were met on schedule.

According to current EU figures Ireland is likely to miss our emissions targets by up to 100%.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Torben Andersen of NOW Ireland indicated that Ireland is falling further behind our EU neighbours in terms of addressing our renewables target.

"The UK announcement is only one of a number of recent announcements by major European Governments, with Germany, Denmark and Sweden all making further commitments towards introducing a framework to assist in the development of their offshore capacity. Offshore wind energy is now a mainstream power generation source delivering secure supply of electricity. In the case of Germany, this decision was based on a detailed cost-benefit analysis which showed a significant long term saving to the taxpayer through offshore wind deployment.

While last weeks budget was extremely disappointing in its failure to give any real impetus to the challenge of addressing our dependency on fossil fuels, there is still an opportunity to address this. Ireland has the benefit of some the most impressive wind resources in the world – equal in potential to those in the UK, yet they remain largely undeveloped. NOW Ireland is calling on the Government to examine the potential of offshore wind and carry out a full cost-benefit analysis leading, if successful, to a commitment to introducing a framework which will support the deployment of offshore wind energy technology in Ireland.

Offshore wind is now recognised throughout Europe as the one clean renewable power source that is capable of delivering capacity close to that of fossil-fuel based generation. Ireland has the capacity from current leases to deliver over 2000MW of power, with potential for another 4000MW in un-licensed waters.

Private investment of over €4bn is planned in this sector, but with no guidance from Government, this investment remains locked.

With the United Kingdom seeking to develop such a level of generation, the potential exists in Ireland not only to develop similar resources, but also develop jobs based in industries supporting this new energy resource. Ireland can be a centre of green energy excellence, but only if we prove that we are committed to achieving our own energy targets. Ireland has fallen behind our EU partners, now it is time to take the lead."