Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 May 2026
38. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the steps being taken to address delays in offshore wind development which are impacting Ireland's ability to establish an indigenous green hydrogen industry; and whether the State will provide interim financial supports to hydrogen demonstration projects pending full renewable generation build-out. [38325/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraGovernment recognises the key role that renewable hydrogen is anticipated to play in our future energy system and as a key component of our zero-carbon economy. It will be extremely challenging for Ireland to achieve our target of net zero emissions by 2050 without decarbonised gases like renewable hydrogen.
Renewable hydrogen can also enhance our security of supply as it can be produced in Ireland with our abundant wind and solar energy resources, and it provides the potential of long-term, inter-seasonal storage of renewables.
Ireland is at a very early stage of developing our hydrogen sector. We produce and use very little hydrogen at present, which is primarily used for niche industrial processes.
Ireland’s wind resources are amongst the best in the world and renewable hydrogen presents a major opportunity for capturing the massive potential of our offshore wind energy. Five offshore wind projects off our East coast, with planned capacity of 3.8 gigawatts, are currently in development. The first planning determinations are anticipated before the end of 2026, with others to follow in 2027. Subject to approval, it is anticipated that these five projects will be in procurement and construction by 2030 and operational in the early 2030s.
In December 2025, I announced that Helvick Head DAC, a consortium of ESB and Orsted, had won my Department’s second offshore wind auction and will be developing a 900-megawatt project off the coast of Waterford. I expect this project to be energised by 2033. This project was the first of four to be brought to auction from the South Coast DMAP.
My Department is working closely with EirGrid to develop grid connection options and is separately commissioning and procuring survey data of the second South Coast DMAP site known as Lí Ban. My Department is also preparing plans to bring the remaining two sites within the South Coast DMAP to market and is advancing the National DMAP in order to meet our targets.
In terms of funding, Action 2 of the National Hydrogen Strategy specifically provides for the establishment of an early hydrogen innovation fund to support demonstration projects across the hydrogen value chain.
My Department has commissioned KPMG to support the development of the Strategic Assessment and Preliminary Business Case for the hydrogen demonstration fund, which are required for the first approval stage under the Infrastructure Guidelines and are critical for developing the strategic case for capital investment funding proposals. This piece of work will assist my Department in progressing through the subsequent approval stages including detailed fund design. My Department is working to deliver the hydrogen demonstration fund by 2027.
