#oceanenergy – Both Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte TD and the Chairman of one of the world's leading developers of offshore wind energy, Eddie O'Connor of Mainstream Renewables has spoken of Ireland's unique position as a leader of offshore power at today's opening of the International Conference on Ocean Energy in the National Convention Centre in Dublin.
The Minister said that Ireland has a renewable potential that is many times the size of our relatively small island electricity system.
Ireland has set out a National Renewable Energy Action Plan and intends to achieve its target through 40% renewable electricity, 10% renewable transport and 12% renewable heat to give 16% of Ireland's overall energy consumption in 2020 from renewable sources, in line with our target under the EU Renewable Directive.
Eddie O'Connor, CEO of Mainstream Renewable Power and a Founding Member of the “Friends of the Supergrid”, estimated that between 1m and 1.6m megawatts of offshore wind will have to be installed over the next forty years in order to meet future energy needs.
At an average cost of €3m per MW the total investment will be between €3 trillion and €4.8 trillion O'Connor told the Dublin conference. The gigantic investment will be the biggest ever spend in the EU and will be the largest European construction project in history. His full speech is here.