How can we harness the momentum garnered from Waterford Chamber’s recent successful Strategic Offshore Wind Event?
As proud sponsors of the gathering, Energia Group and Vårgrønn were delighted to see such enthusiasm among stakeholders on the prospective development of offshore wind in the South East. The region is on the cusp of the first state-led offshore wind auction, ORESS Tonn Nua due to take place this year. The winning developer will construct a 900 MW offshore wind farm off the coast of Waterford.
Yet, one project doesn’t make an industry and while there is enthusiasm and motivation across the board for the South East to become a renewable energy hub, pragmatic steps need to be taken to make that a reality.
First, we need a pipeline.
Managing Director of Energia Renewables, Peter Baillie says, “this is critical to establishing momentum behind the nascent offshore sector in Ireland.
“One project will not create sufficient jobs or demand for the skillbase required. Investments opportunities for ports and other offshore infrastructure will fade away due to a lack of momentum and investor confidence in the sector.
“The state needs to urgently identify and prioritise a credible pipeline of projects for developers and supply chain to see a real opportunity for multiple parties to bring the lowest cost and most efficient delivery for Ireland. This will underpin the substantial investments in ports and supporting infrastructure that is needed for this scale of ambition”.
Stephen Bull, CEO of Vårgrønn and joint venture partner, highlights his company’s international experience in offshore wind development citing, “what we see work well in the UK is a clear government target for offshore wind, followed up in consecutive auction rounds and backed by both sides of the political spectrum giving the industry predictability. We see in Germany also, where the authorities give a clear forecast of programmed auctions, and there is a clear link to the industrial growth and energy transition in the country”.
Generate energy demand in the South East region.
The Waterford region needs to be first up, best dressed. With four sites earmarked for offshore wind development the power from the wind farms must have access to the grid and should first service demand in the South East.
Peter Ballie says, “Waterford has a great opportunity to increase electricity demand to underpin green electricity investment, decarbonisation of the heat and transport sectors and servicing large energy users such as data centres and semiconductors. In turn this generates more growth creating new jobs, investments and regional development. Increased demand is the best way to create the economic rationale for expanding Ireland’s offshore industry”.
It all comes down to grid.
The biggest constraint to developing a pipeline and generating electricity demand in the region is grid capacity. Eirgrid have not been able to identify if or when there will be further grid connection capacity beyond the Tonn Nua auction. And this is a problem for industry.
Speaking on the issue, Peter Baillie says “without future projections of grid capacity, momentum for offshore beyond the Tonn Nua auction will quickly fall away. Suggestions that off-grid hydrogen or ammonia production will work for sites C and D are incorrect. Green hydrogen is a new technology and will take time to develop. It will not be feasible to underpin the costs of large scale offshore wind solely by off-grid hydrogen and ammonia production.
The Strategic Offshore Wind Event was a first formal step on that path to offshore success and a culmination of the development of key stakeholders in the offshore space. It’s time to capitalise on that.
Bringing together local communities and engaging with stakeholders up and down the industry chain is a precondition for enabling the development of offshore wind in the South East. Stakeholders in the South East must continue to bring local communities with them on this new journey. DECC can establish routes to market, developers can compete for sites and development but stakeholders in the South East can play a huge role in ensuring the opportunities are there by generating demand, ensuring sufficient numbers of skilled people for job creation and as champions for the offshore industry.”
Offshore Stakeholder and Communications Manager