2026-02-24

146. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to provide an update on the provision of wind energy; the targets for its provision in 2026; whether there are sufficient resources in place to ensure that offshore wind energy can be on-shored; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14751/26]

Will the Minister provide an update on the provision of wind energy; the targets for its provision in 2026; whether there are sufficient resources in place to ensure that offshore energy can be onshored; and any other infrastructural deficits that need to be dealt with from the point of view of delivering on the wind energy promise?

I thank the Deputy for his question. Onshore wind is the largest contributor to renewable energy generation capacity in Ireland, with approximately 5.1 GW of wind generation capacity installed. The Government is committed to achieving 9 GW of installed onshore wind capacity. Onshore wind remains Ireland’s dominant source of renewable electricity and is second only to natural gas for overall electricity generation. In fact, we are among the world leaders for installed onshore wind capacity per capita and get a greater share of our electricity from onshore wind than anyone else across Europe. The Department recently launched a consultation on design features for the next onshore wind renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, auction scheduled to take place later this year. The Government remains committed to having 5 GW of offshore wind capacity in development by 2030, with a long-range target of 20 GW by 2040. Five phase 1 offshore wind projects off our east coast, accounting for 3.8 GW of capacity, are in development at present. It is anticipated that the first planning determination will be made by An Coimisiún Pleanála by the end of 2026. The phase 1 projects are responsible for constructing the offshore transmission assets that will connect the sites to the onshore grid. These transmission assets will transfer to EirGrid after commissioning. In December 2025, the Minister announced that the consortium of ESB and Ørsted had won Ireland's second offshore wind auction. It will develop an up to 900 MW project off the coast of Waterford, the first within the south coast designated maritime area plan, DMAP. The Department is currently developing proposals for an auction of the second site, Lí Ban, with potential capacity of between 900 MW and 1.5 GW. I expect the auction for that site to take place in 2027.

In a straightforward sense, we all want to see renewables. We might not have oil fields but we definitely have a large number of areas, offshore in particular, where there is a significant amount of wind for a considerable amount of time. It is that idea, which we often talk about, of becoming a wind superpower. Am I right in thinking that we will not see these particular offshore projects by 2030? Can we get a timeline for how far behind we are? What are we doing as regards the infrastructural deficit? Obviously, a large piece of work needs to be done by EirGrid, but we have constantly heard about the issues that exist in relation to ports. I think Belfast Port is the only port in Ireland that was capable of delivering in relation to offshore wind. I ask for an update on the timeline, on when the Minister of State sees us meeting those targets and on the infrastructural deficits.

Our immediate focus is to get these projects into construction. That is why we have established the accelerating renewable energy task force, alongside the Taoiseach's clearing house. That will provide inter-agency oversight to remove any barriers to grid planning or ports. We have very ambitious targets. In one sense, we are trying to put the resources in place financially, technically and institutionally because we need private investment, and significant amounts of it, to support connections on both the onshore and offshore sides. We are making progress in regard to previous and future auctions. We are also significantly ramping up investment in the CRU and EirGrid. They have agreed a new five-year programme with up to €18.9 billion being provided to support their plan in terms of building capacity within our grid.

I am back to whether we can just get some sort of better notion of a timeline on when we will go from planning to shovels in the sea, for want of a better term. It is vital, no matter how far behind target we are, that we ensure we get back on track. We are hearing about an accelerating wind energy task force and the Taoiseach's clearing house. That all sounds wonderful. I just hope it does a better job than an awful lot of task forces have done to date. When we get these targets, are we looking at something that can do something significant as regards that other task force on reducing energy costs, which are having a huge impact? I get that some of that is the connection with the price of gas. There is a need for greater oversight powers for the CRU and whatever else. We cannot just listen to answers in relation to hedging any more. We need to see a greater level of transparency. It is about delivering on renewables and then delivering not only on sustainability, but on capacity, storage and price in the long term for people who are suffering huge issues with high energy costs.

I thank the Deputy for his comments. Confidence is growing within the sector. The Lí Ban project was the only project across Europe that was awarded last year. We are ramping up our investment, from the State's perspective, to try to ensure the key enablers are in place. While many of these projects are currently in planning, we hope many will go to construction before the end of the decade. Our responsibility is to guide and support many of these companies. Each phase 1 project is responsible itself for the construction of its own offshore transmission asset. For the Tonn Nua project, EirGrid will build the offshore grid that will link to the connection. The Government is focused on what we can control at the minute, which is building the network and ensuring that over 500 projects, including many substations and interconnectors, are delivered as part of EirGrid's and the CRU's project programme.

Will they start construction in 2030?

Before 2030.