>**Seven offshore wind farms could begin operating from 2027 under fast-track plan**
>*Planned facilities in Irish Sea and one off west coast would cut fossil fuel dependency*
>Seven large offshore wind farms with capacity to power three million homes are set to be fast-tracked from this year under a new maritime regulation regime.
>As part of a multibillion euro investment programme, Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan has invited applications from developers of six wind farms proposed for the Irish Sea and one off the west coast.
>Under new powers, the first tranche of projects using fixed turbines will be able to obtain consents from the Minister, enabling them to go directly to An Bord Pleanála for consideration.
>Provided they meet planning, environmental and financial requirements, it brings the prospect of beginning to generate power from 2027 – supplying three gigawatts (GW) of renewable power to the grid.
>The Irish Sea projects are Oriel Wind Park off Co Louth; two wind farms proposed by RWE at Bray and Kish Banks off Co Dublin, two wind farms due to be built by Codling Wind Park off Co Wicklow and a development by North Irish Sea Array Ltd off Co Meath and north Dublin. The West of Ireland wind farm is planned by Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta off Connemara, Co Galway.
>“This is the real opportunity for our country to switch away from fossil fuels and put it up to [Russian president Vladimir] Putin, saying ‘We’re not going to use your gas in the future, we have our own [energy] supply’,” Mr Ryan said at a briefing.
>“Increasingly the [electricity] price will be set by renewables” rather than oil and gas, Mr Ryan added. On cost for consumers, he said: “The more we build, the cheaper this becomes.”
>**Second tranche**
>More than €200 million is to be invested in ports to facilitate offshore projects. In addition, deep-sea facilities would be needed for fabrication of large turbines associated with floating technology – with Cork Harbour and the Shannon estuary most likely to meet that requirement.
>A second tranche of offshore wind farms is to bring capacity up to 5GW by 2030. From next year a new agency, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, will oversee projects, which increasingly will deploy floating turbines and be located off the south and west coasts.
>Reconfiguring global energy and ending reliance on Russian oil and gas means scaling up offshore wind, with Europe set to generate 300GW.
>The big prize, Mr Ryan predicted, would come in the 2030s, “when we are generating the likes of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind … The conversion of that to hydrogen through electrolysis increasingly is being seen as the solution which will allow us to have a modern economy, meet our climate targets and to have energy security.”
>As Ireland had the potential to generate 10 times current power needs, it could become a major exporter of hydrogen, he said.
We will be living in a very different world in 10 years time
Fast?
NIMBYs are training Dolphins to submit Planning Appeals, as we speak.
Why the hell weren’t they doing this 20 years ago, bit late lads. But still, good news
Did you hear one of Trump’s claims why we shouldn’t uss windmills? It’s because they kill all the birds. He actually said this on that podcast he was on recently. What an absolute clown 😂
I’m all for this so long as they are State Owned and proper planning procedure is done. The farm in Arklow is already delayed / has issues because it turned out the existing turbines were put up without an appropriate Environmental Impact report being carried out (good old days of Celtic Tiger planning).
If the State built these we could have cheap energy as well as making a fortune exporting the energy. We could set up a wealth fund like the Norwegians and really benefit the country and the environment at the same time. However, if we let private companies come in, we will end up paying more in the long run (although it is obviously cheaper short term as state does not have to pay to build them).
What direction are they gonna blow the Island towards?
Doubtless the posh boys in An Taisce will realise that that might ruin their view over the sea when they go on a day trip to Wicklow once every 5 years and will send in their stormtroopers “Friends of the Irish Environment” to oppose everything.
Hard to know as an outsider what bits of our planning systems provide real value, what causes stagnation, and what might we regret bypassing. But it’s encouraging to see some reforms and/or fast-track options to help get projects over the line, when we’re clearly in an emergency and everything seems to take decades to happen
It’d be ironic if we destroyed the environment while every project that could help is caught up in environmental impact assessments
They tried to build a good number in the Midlands a few years ago.
All the people who were subsequently anti vaxxers were protesting. One of my family among them. They went over to Brussels to meet Ming Flanagan who also introduced then to Nigel Farage who both gave them great support.
It’s mad how the anti energy independence crowd, are the anti-vaxx crowd, are the anti-eu crowd, are the pro Russia crowd.
Good it should have happened long ago. Hopefully it will continue. So much untapped power waiting.
2027? Slow-track more like.
I live on the east coast and have no problem if they fill up the Irish Sea with windmills. One of the proposed wind farms is off Connemara and I think this should not be permitted. Some views should be preserved.
14 comments
>**Seven offshore wind farms could begin operating from 2027 under fast-track plan**
>*Planned facilities in Irish Sea and one off west coast would cut fossil fuel dependency*
>Seven large offshore wind farms with capacity to power three million homes are set to be fast-tracked from this year under a new maritime regulation regime.
>As part of a multibillion euro investment programme, Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan has invited applications from developers of six wind farms proposed for the Irish Sea and one off the west coast.
>Under new powers, the first tranche of projects using fixed turbines will be able to obtain consents from the Minister, enabling them to go directly to An Bord Pleanála for consideration.
>Provided they meet planning, environmental and financial requirements, it brings the prospect of beginning to generate power from 2027 – supplying three gigawatts (GW) of renewable power to the grid.
>The Irish Sea projects are Oriel Wind Park off Co Louth; two wind farms proposed by RWE at Bray and Kish Banks off Co Dublin, two wind farms due to be built by Codling Wind Park off Co Wicklow and a development by North Irish Sea Array Ltd off Co Meath and north Dublin. The West of Ireland wind farm is planned by Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta off Connemara, Co Galway.
>“This is the real opportunity for our country to switch away from fossil fuels and put it up to [Russian president Vladimir] Putin, saying ‘We’re not going to use your gas in the future, we have our own [energy] supply’,” Mr Ryan said at a briefing.
>“Increasingly the [electricity] price will be set by renewables” rather than oil and gas, Mr Ryan added. On cost for consumers, he said: “The more we build, the cheaper this becomes.”
>**Second tranche**
>More than €200 million is to be invested in ports to facilitate offshore projects. In addition, deep-sea facilities would be needed for fabrication of large turbines associated with floating technology – with Cork Harbour and the Shannon estuary most likely to meet that requirement.
>A second tranche of offshore wind farms is to bring capacity up to 5GW by 2030. From next year a new agency, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, will oversee projects, which increasingly will deploy floating turbines and be located off the south and west coasts.
>Reconfiguring global energy and ending reliance on Russian oil and gas means scaling up offshore wind, with Europe set to generate 300GW.
>The big prize, Mr Ryan predicted, would come in the 2030s, “when we are generating the likes of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind … The conversion of that to hydrogen through electrolysis increasingly is being seen as the solution which will allow us to have a modern economy, meet our climate targets and to have energy security.”
>As Ireland had the potential to generate 10 times current power needs, it could become a major exporter of hydrogen, he said.
We will be living in a very different world in 10 years time
Fast?
NIMBYs are training Dolphins to submit Planning Appeals, as we speak.
Why the hell weren’t they doing this 20 years ago, bit late lads. But still, good news
Did you hear one of Trump’s claims why we shouldn’t uss windmills? It’s because they kill all the birds. He actually said this on that podcast he was on recently. What an absolute clown 😂
I’m all for this so long as they are State Owned and proper planning procedure is done. The farm in Arklow is already delayed / has issues because it turned out the existing turbines were put up without an appropriate Environmental Impact report being carried out (good old days of Celtic Tiger planning).
If the State built these we could have cheap energy as well as making a fortune exporting the energy. We could set up a wealth fund like the Norwegians and really benefit the country and the environment at the same time. However, if we let private companies come in, we will end up paying more in the long run (although it is obviously cheaper short term as state does not have to pay to build them).
What direction are they gonna blow the Island towards?
Doubtless the posh boys in An Taisce will realise that that might ruin their view over the sea when they go on a day trip to Wicklow once every 5 years and will send in their stormtroopers “Friends of the Irish Environment” to oppose everything.
Hard to know as an outsider what bits of our planning systems provide real value, what causes stagnation, and what might we regret bypassing. But it’s encouraging to see some reforms and/or fast-track options to help get projects over the line, when we’re clearly in an emergency and everything seems to take decades to happen
It’d be ironic if we destroyed the environment while every project that could help is caught up in environmental impact assessments
They tried to build a good number in the Midlands a few years ago.
All the people who were subsequently anti vaxxers were protesting. One of my family among them. They went over to Brussels to meet Ming Flanagan who also introduced then to Nigel Farage who both gave them great support.
It’s mad how the anti energy independence crowd, are the anti-vaxx crowd, are the anti-eu crowd, are the pro Russia crowd.
Good it should have happened long ago. Hopefully it will continue. So much untapped power waiting.
2027? Slow-track more like.
I live on the east coast and have no problem if they fill up the Irish Sea with windmills. One of the proposed wind farms is off Connemara and I think this should not be permitted. Some views should be preserved.