Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 June 2026
24. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the assessment that has been carried out of Ireland’s wave energy potential, particularly along the Atlantic coast; the way in which this is being incorporated into national energy planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46207/26]
View answerA resource assessment for various ORE technologies was carried out as part of the draft Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan II document which went for public consultation but was ultimately not adopted as Government policy. In this document, it was assessed that there was a potential of 23.8 GW of wave energy potential in Ireland’s maritime area. This figure represents a technical assessment of the total available resource rather than a likely scenario for technological deployment.
The SEAI’s ORE Technology Roadmap, published in 2024, assessed the technical aspects of deploying various ORE technologies and included a number of scenarios of wave energy deployment. It was seen that as wave energy is not yet at a commercially advanced level of development, it is likely to play a smaller part in Ireland’s energy mix compared to offshore wind in the medium-term, with a maximum of 4 GW of deployment by 2050 in the most optimistic scenario.
It is difficult to predict how quickly an emerging technology will advance in terms of technological and commercial readiness and, as such, Government cannot set specific targets for technologies such as wave energy until more robust demonstration and evidence-based data is available to inform policy. Through the SEAI and Marine Institute, my Department will continue to fund research of this technology and will consider how it can best be deployed to assist in Ireland’s green transition as more data emerges.
