Noel Cunniffe: Ireland’s offshore wind strategy risks becoming just a notion

28 July 2025

Today, at the Taoiseach’s invitation, wind energy industry leaders will join policymakers from key government departments, state agencies and companies who share a common goal to unlock Ireland’s enormous clean energy potential.

It is an important opportunity to take stock of what has been accomplished in the last five years.

There are typically three key constraints to offshore wind development – planning, grid connection and market access. Progress has been made on all three.

On the planning front, recent legislation overhauled the way permits for offshore wind energy are granted. This included the establishment and staffing of a new agency, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority. Additionally, four new offshore wind sites were identified off the south coast last year.

On grid connections, last week we saw the potentially transformative announcement of €3.5 billion for our electricity grid in the revised National Development Plan.

Regarding market access, in 2023 the government awarded contracts which will support the development of four offshore wind projects with the potential to deliver 3.1 GW of clean, home-grown energy – enough to power 2.5 million homes. A second auction for the new Tonn Nua site will take place this November.

But an honest appraisal of where we stand means identifying challenges as well as acknowledging achievements. Ireland must identify solutions to those challenges that will bear fruit in the short, medium and long term.

Despite the reforms described above, we have five offshore wind energy projects struggling through the planning system which are seeking, and not always getting, support from critical state agencies to respond to detailed requests for information from An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Speeding up the delivery of these projects should be the government’s number one short-term priority on offshore wind. Doing so is the best way to spur the development of supply chains and instil confidence among investors in our greatest natural resource. Until that happens, we do not really have an offshore wind energy industry in Ireland, we have a notion of one.

For medium-term delivery, detailed plans must be put in place to progress sites that have been deemed appropriate for wind energy development, but that have longer lead times. There remain three sites off the south coast for which the government has no such plans.

Will they connect to the grid and, if so, is the grid going to be strong enough? What will the electricity they generate be used for? Will the government direct new investment in semiconductors, medtech or data to that part of the country or will it all be exported to our neighbours?

Without answers to these questions, there is a risk that investors will move to more established markets with clearer strategies, such as the UK, continental Europe or East Asia.

To capitalise on longer term opportunities, the government must immediately resource efforts to accelerate further development, including in deeper waters where floating turbines could be deployed. The government intends to do this by publishing a single development plan for Ireland’s entire maritime area by 2027.

This is the right approach but the government must ensure the necessary funding is available to deliver on time. This will require a strong team of officials as well as resources for technical, environmental and legal expertise. It also means extensive consultation in which coastal communities. Those who depend on the sea must be given every opportunity to ensure their voices are heard.

That needs to be addressed in the coming budget, but deeper collaboration with industry can also be part of the solution. This is a shared ambition, a hope we all share for our country, for the future we want to build.

It took 18 months to deliver the equivalent development plan for our south-coast waters. Now we need one for our entire maritime area and we have less than 30 months left. It is vital that the resources are put in place to deliver the plan on time.

At a time when our economy is under threat from tariffs, rising energy costs and global uncertainty we have a solution.

The challenges are significant, but the reward is a clean, affordable, energy-secure future, one that supports Irish jobs, that revitalises coastal communities and protects our marine environment.

That’s a future, and a country, worth investing in.