Ireland is primed to become a leading player in Europe’s clean energy future following Government approval this week of a revised National Planning Framework (NPF), according to Minister for State Timmy Dooley.
Speaking on Thursday at a ministerial plenary session at a WindEurope event in Copenhagen, he said the revised NPF would facilitate accelerated roll-out of renewables infrastructure.
“It will create a stronger support for renewables at a regional and local level, providing clarity and consistency across the planning system,” he added.
This would also ensure Ireland remained an attractive country for renewable energy projects, he said.
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It also acknowledged the clear connection between climate action and potential for investment generation and employment and jobs, while linking in offshore wind industry and green technology, added the Minister of State for Climate and Energy with special responsible for Marine.
“Ireland is already a wind energy success story. Irish wind farms provided 48 per cent of Ireland’s power last February, and last January 2025, a significant milestone was reached – when the State reached over 5 gigawatts (GW) of installed wind capacity – over halfway to the State’s 2030 onshore climate action targets for renewable wind energy,” he told business leaders.
NPF changes – still subject to approval by Houses of the Oireachtas – would also ensure “a sufficient pipeline of onshore wind projects to underpin Ireland’s commitment of 9GW of onshore wind by 2030”.
“Ireland has enormous offshore wind potential – not only to deliver cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy to our homes and businesses – it has the potential to deliver tens of thousands of new green jobs for many communities across the State,” he said.
The Government was accelerating policy in the offshore wind, Mr Dooley said, with an all-of-Government approach applied through an offshore wind delivery taskforce.
“Ireland has achieved a number of important milestones in offshore wind, including: Ireland’s first offshore wind auction, which procured over 3GW of capacity from four offshore wind projects; the publication of the State’s first marine spatial plan for offshore wind development – the south coast designated maritime area plan [DMAP]; and the approved terms and conditions of Ireland’s second offshore wind auction, which will take place later this year.”
At the event being attended by more than 15,000 delegates, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment issued a progress report on Ireland’s offshore wind industrial strategy, which shows that of 40 actions, 11 were completed, 19 were in progress and five were delayed.
Significantly, however, Government commitments to deploy floating offshore technology were delayed – including a DMAP for the West coast, and putting in place a floating offshore wind “demonstrator site” planned for later this year.
Meanwhile Europe’s wind industry has proposed “a new deal to speed up and de-risk the build out of home-grown and competitive offshore wind energy”. Its proposal calls on European governments to auction at least 100GW of new offshore wind over 2031-2040.
Crucially, it calls for contract-for-difference auctions with firm political commitment through fixed price and indexed contracts “in an optimised and de-risked framework to create bankable projects”. The proposal has been endorsed by all majorbig developers in the EU and the UK.
It has also been backed by large ports servicing the renewables sector, particular offshore, and representative organisations including Wind Energy Ireland.
The offshore buildout should be more co-ordinated among European countries and distributed more evenly over time, it adds in a briefing document released in Copenhagen.
Having visibility on volumes and revenues from a stable pipeline of auctions would help reduce costs, it says, “and ensure offshore wind plays its role in delivering Europe’s energy objectives”. The industry, for its part, says it will commit to reducing offshore wind costs by 30 per cent by 2040.
“Europe faces unprecedented challenges. It must address the weaponisation of energy and strengthen its energy security. It must strengthen its industrial competitiveness and make electricity more affordable. And it must stay the course on decarbonisation,” it says.
“Home-grownand affordable offshore wind energy is a central solution here. Over the past decade offshore wind has scaled up quickly and reduced costs significantly. Today it provides reliable electricity for millions of people as well as businesses,” it adds.
To meet Europe’s growing demand for offshore wind, annual offshore wind installations must reach 15GW by the 2030s, “but increased investment uncertainty, insufficient levels electrification levels and high-risk auction frameworks put the commercial viability of projects at risk. Investor confidence is declining.”
“These priorities must be accompanied by broader measures to accelerate electrification, support energy-consuming industries’ competitiveness, and require a step-change in grid development and financing,” the industry group says.
This will lay the foundation for a sustainable and competitive offshore wind industry. In return the industry commits to delivering investment capital for “projects, industry, manufacturing capacity and people”.
“This approach would deliver long-lasting value to both communities by driving economic activity, lasting investments, and high-quality jobs, not least in coastal communities – and to consumers by reducing their electricity bills,” the group adds.
