Welcome for Ireland’s First Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP)

By Caoimhe McCarthy, Policy Manager, WEI

Adoption of the DMAP

The South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan(SC-DMAP) is the first sub-national marine spatial plan for Ireland. It passed through both houses of the Oireachtas without opposition in October, in a landmark moment for the State and for the future development of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE).

The South Coast DMAP represents the first State prepared spatial plan for renewable energy on land or sea and was developed following multiple rounds of intensive public consultation and engagement by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. This brought a wide range of stakeholders, including local communities, environmental groups and the fishing industry across the south and south-east, into the process.

This plan includes a suite of associated policy objectives (consistent with the National Marine Planning Framework and Maritime Area Planning Act). It will help ensure the benefits from our offshore wind revolution stay in Ireland, creating Irish jobs and supporting local businesses and communities around the country - while also supporting Ireland in delivering on our ambitious climate targets out beyond 2030.

What this means for ORE development

This first DMAP off Ireland’s south coast has identified 4 development sites within the wider geographical area (Sites A-D as set out in the finalised Plan) with a total potential capacity for over 5 GW of future ORE, including Tonn Nua (Site A), the site for Ireland’s second offshore auction (ORESS 2.1) through the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme.

This auction is due to take place in early 2025 and will award the auction winner a contract to develop and build a 900 MW offshore wind farm, to be completed in the early 2030s. The Tonn Nua project will follow Ireland’s six Phase 1 offshore wind projects which entered the first offshore auction (ORESS 1) in 2023, 4 of whom were successful, 3 on the east, and 1 off the west coast.

The remaining 2 projects, both located on the east coast, are progressing with alternative routes to market, with all 6 projects entering the planning system this year, seeking to build out by the end of the decade. Ensuring their delivery will be critical to building the supply chain and paving the way for future projects as well as laying the foundations for Irish energy independence.

What next?

With the plans currently being finalised for the Tonn Nua auction to take place in 2025, Government and the ORE industry must continue to work together and turn our attention towards maximising the potential of the wider geographic area of the SC-DMAP

Also needed, and urgently, is a detailed roadmap for the identification and development of future DMAPs around the coast of Ireland.

This is essential to create a transparent and robust pipeline of future development opportunities for both fixed and floating wind which will be needed to enable Ireland to deliver 20 GW of offshore wind for 2040 and, ultimately, building to at least 37 GW by 2050.