Ireland will fall short of its offshore wind targets for 2030 “putting at risk thousands of jobs, billions of euro of investment and condemning Irish consumers to dirtier and more expensive electricity”, according to Wind Energy Ireland.
The industry body’s chief executive, Noel Cunniffe, told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate, Energy and the Environment on Wednesday that wind energy had already transformed Ireland’s electricity system but, beyond 2030, there was no visible pipeline of projects at a time when “offshore wind must form a central pillar of Irish energy independence”.
The committee is calling in developers of offshore wind to examine how best to address “delivery challenges”. Three developers who are involved in phase one projects deploying fixed-bottom turbines in the Irish Sea – DP Energy Ireland, Statkraft and RWE – highlighted ongoing planning issues and uncertainties on timelines that are heightening risks associated with their projects.
“We continue to see substantial delays in the planning system and in working with State agencies to respond to questions they have raised about the five live applications with An Coimisiún Pleanála at this time,” Mr Cunniffe warned. “Without a well-resourced planning system, delivering projects is very difficult.”
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While he welcomed the imminent Government auction for the Tonn Nua site off the Waterford coast, he said “the reality is that once it has concluded that is the end of our pipeline”.
Even if planning and consenting proceed, Mr Cunniffe said that, without supporting gird infrastructure, projects cannot connect.
Adam Cronin, chief operating office of DP Energy which is seeking to develop offshore wind projects in Ireland with the Spanish company Iberdrola said ambitious offshore wind targets for 2030 and 2040 are “very unlikely” to be met under current circumstances.
A grid development plan designed to facilitate large-scale offshore wind with clear timelines was needed, backed by a supportive ports policy that allows State investment, which was possible in other countries, Mr Cronin said.
In response to Fianna Fáil TD Naoise Ó Cearúil, Tina Raleigh, vice-president of offshore wind at Statkraft Ireland, said that, in making “requests for further information” planning authorities were making unreasonable requests, raising issues already covered in applications and going further than required as they were unused to handling such large, complex projects.
To counter this, mandatory engagement at pre-planning stage should be introduced and applied to State agencies.
When Statkraft submitted a planning application in June 2024 for their NISA project off the coast between Dublin and Louth, she said the group expected it would get through the system in about 12 months.
“In April 2025, almost a year after our initial application, we received a 47-page request for further information (RFI). While the project received only 59 submissions from the public and statutory bodies, the extent of the RFI was unprecedented.
“We now have until August 2026 to reply to this request. After that, we have no idea how the time frame will evolve,” she said.
Peter Lefroy, head of offshore development with RWE Ireland, said there remains significant uncertainty on the timing for the granting of planning permission for projects in Ireland.
“In addition, the impacts of subsequent delays and changes following the anticipated judicial review challenges further harms a developer’s ability to deliver efficiently,” he said. His company, which is developing the Dublin Array project, is already factoring in Irish projects taking “substantially longer than what happens in other markets”.
