Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 June 2026
145. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the progress that has been made in addressing the planning, grid and delivery bottlenecks identified in the Offshore Wind Energy Programme Report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44689/26]
View answerDeveloping Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) is both complex and challenging, and there are many interdependent stakeholders with a role to play.
Five offshore wind projects off our East coast, with a planned capacity of 3.8 gigawatts (GW), are presently in development. Two of the planning determinations are anticipated to be provided in Q4 of this year, with others to follow in 2027.
Subject to planning approval, and the timely progression of the projects by the developers, it is anticipated that these five projects will move to the procurement phase and subsequently to construction by 2030 to be operational in the early 2030s.
The first of the four sites to be brought to auction from the South Coast DMAP, the Tonn Nua offshore wind project, is being developed by Helvick Head DAC. This project, which will be situated off the coast of Waterford, is expected to deliver a planned capacity of 900 megawatts of offshore wind and to be operational in 2033.
An announcement of timings for an auction of the Lí Ban site within the South Coast DMAP is expected in the coming months.
In tandem with implementing the SC-DMAP, my Department is developing a National DMAP, expected to be published in 2027, that will identify a pipeline of offshore renewable energy development sites through Ireland’s maritime area.
In December 2025, I announced an unprecedented investment in grid development of up to €18 billion for the period 2026-2030 and my Department is working closely with EirGrid to develop grid connection options.
The Taoiseach’s Offshore Wind Energy Clearing House Group which was established in 2025, brings together stakeholders from public and private sectors to tackle issues that cause delays to the delivery of offshore energy infrastructure.
Two cross-Government taskforces, the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce (OWDT) and the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce (AIT) continue to develop policies designed to deliver an accelerated and increased level of renewable energy generation. The OWDT brings together 16 Government Departments, agencies and industry representatives with the aim of developing the sector to progress and align activity.
