Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 April 2025
92. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the steps being taken to ensure that the development of offshore wind and green hydrogen infrastructure directly benefits Irish communities and the domestic economy, including potential job creation and revenue generation for the State. [18329/25]
View answer93. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the specific measures being taken to attract private and foreign investment into Ireland’s green hydrogen sector; and whether any partnership agreements have been established to support the development of large-scale hydrogen projects. [18330/25]
View answer94. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he is investigating the successful cases of portable hydrogen fuel cells to replace diesel generators within the film industry as we transition to our sustainability goals; if he will examine other industries that could transition to the use of hydrogen or green hydrogen, and if so, what are the findings of the benefits of the switch; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18331/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 92, 93 and 94 together.
Ireland has the natural resources to become a world leader in the production of green energy. Ireland has a sea area approximately seven times the size of our landmass, with wind resources which are among the best in the world. Hydrogen represents one of the best ways of capturing these resources and specifically our capacity to produce renewable hydrogen from our excess energy.
The Government’s Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce was established in 2022 to drive the delivery of offshore wind in Ireland and to capture the wider and longer-term economic and business opportunities associated with the development of offshore wind.
The National Hydrogen Strategy was published in July 2023 and it marks an important first step in developing an indigenous hydrogen industry in Ireland. The Strategy sets out our strategic vision for the role that hydrogen will play in Ireland’s energy system and as a key component of our zero-carbon economy. The three primary strategic reasons for developing an indigenous hydrogen sector in Ireland are to decarbonise our economy, enhance our energy security and create industrial and export market opportunities which in turn will benefit our domestic economy.
Action 20 of the hydrogen strategy sets out to ensure that through the expert advisory group on skills established under the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce, they continue to assess, and support the future skill needs of the offshore wind and renewable hydrogen sectors to ensure maximum benefit to the State.
A number of actions in the strategy seek to attract investment into the sector such as action two which is to establish a hydrogen innovation fund to assist early-stage projects and action eight to carry out a feasibility study to examine export opportunities for hydrogen. Ireland has signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on cooperation in the field of green hydrogen with Germany while a memorandum of understanding between Ireland and the United Kingdom is also in place to cooperate on low carbon hydrogen amongst other things.
The deployment of renewable hydrogen in Ireland will focus on hard-to decarbonise sectors where energy efficiency and direct electrification are not feasible or cost-effective solutions. The recent use of portable hydrogen fuel cell to replace diesel generators within the film industry is an example of the flexibility hydrogen can provide. Hydrogen is envisioned to play an important role in in the coming years in decarbonising industrial processes, as a long duration energy store, a zero-emission source of dispatchable flexible electricity and as a transport fuel in sectors such as heavy goods transport, maritime and aviation.
