The Government has been urged to provide the planning system with more resources to accelerate badly needed wind energy projects.
Wind Energy Ireland warned that “given the lengthy timelines for delivery, Budget 2025 may be the last chance to put in place the necessary resources to enable Ireland to deliver the Climate Action Plan for 2030”.
Under the plan the Government aims to have up to 80 per cent of the electricity consumed in the Republic generated from renewable power by 2030, around a doubling of current levels.
In the first half of 2024 An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for four wind farms with a combined estimated capacity of 228MW (megawatts). Wind Energy Ireland estimates that, to achieve the 9,000MW onshore wind energy by the 2030 target in the Climate Action Plan, An Bord Pleanála would have needed to approve 860MW since the start of the year.
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“We are simply not building wind farms quickly enough to keep up with the scale of renewable energy deployment we need. This means higher bills, more fossil fuel imports and even more carbon emissions,” Noel Cunniffe, chief executive of Wind Energy Ireland, said in a pre-budget submission.
“Recent investments in State agencies such as An Bord Pleanála and the National Parks and Wildlife Service have improved the speed of decision-making on planning applications which is very positive,” he said. “However, these organisations, and particularly local authority planning departments, still need more staff with the required expertise to assess an increasing amount of planning applications for critical renewable energy infrastructure like wind and solar farms.
“Giving the planning system the resources it needs to ensure applications for renewable energy and electricity grid infrastructure projects are thoroughly, but quickly, assessed is a vital investment,” Mr Cunniffe said.
In its submission the organisation also called for the establishment of an offshore renewable energy port infrastructure fund to help finance port infrastructure for offshore wind development. This follows the publication of a recent study which found that at least two ports were needed to deliver Ireland’s 2030 offshore wind targets.
“The recent EU funding announcement for the Port of Cork to develop its facilities to support the growth of Ireland’s offshore wind industry was welcome news. However, funding like this for one port, and the capital that all Irish ports will raise themselves, will not be enough to put in place the infrastructure needed for Ireland to meet our offshore wind goals,” Mr Cunniffe said.
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