The MoU is in line with Ireland’s offshore wind industrial strategy, the partner agencies said.
EirGrid, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at deepening their cooperation and collaboration to support the development of Ireland’s offshore wind sector.
The tripartite MoU was signed at the annual Wind Europe conference happening this week in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The partner agencies will focus on attracting inwards investments and enhance opportunities for companies in the offshore wind sector.
As part of the MoU, the agencies will provide training in public procurement tendering and build the supply chain required to deliver Ireland’s wind energy goals.
The collaboration “will underpin existing support for Irish companies with expertise in areas including civil and marine engineering, geotechnical/geophysical capability, materials handling, environmental surveys and data collection, along with an innovative expertise in digital for offshore and associated cybersecurity,” said Mark Christal, the divisional manager for food and sustainability at Enterprise Ireland.
The MoU is in line with Ireland’s offshore wind industrial strategy, the agencies said, and is a “vital part” of the State’s commitment to meet 80pc of the country’s annual electricity consumption through renewable energy in the coming years and reach its target of 37 GW of offshore wind energy by 2050.
“Today marks a great step in energy cooperation between State agencies, which will be vital in helping Ireland meet our ambitious renewable targets, including developing five gigawatts of offshore wind in the coming years,” said Micheal Mahon, the chief infrastructure officer at the state-owned grid operator EirGrid.
“The development of renewables in the Irish maritime area is critical for achieving our energy transition and boosting energy security. This memorandum of understanding shows the critical need to expand and deepen our collaboration for the benefit of Ireland and our sustainable energy future.”
While Matt Kennedy, the head of client transformation at IDA Ireland said that strengthening the collaboration between Ireland’s enterprise agencies and EirGrid is “crucial” to accelerating offshore wind deployment in the country.
Christal added that the MoU represents “important development opportunities for Ireland’s home-grown offshore wind sector, including the Enterprise Ireland supported Gael Offshore Network, Ireland’s supply chain for the global offshore wind industry.”
Wind energy in the country is on good footing. Earlier this year, a Wind Energy Ireland report said that in 2024, Irish wind farms provided nearly one-third of the island’s electricity.
However, overall, the country could be heading towards “potentially challenging” times, according to an EirGrid assessment. In a recently published report, the grid operator looked at the demand and supply of electricity on the island of Ireland and found potential supply shortages over the next decade.
The assessment report also found that the island needs a balanced portfolio consisting of different electricity generation sources in order to maintain its transition towards higher levels of renewables.
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