Rosslare Europort and Souce Galileo have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the aim of achieving the common goal of developing the port as a key facilitator in the delivery of large-scale offshore wind farm projects in Irish coastal waters.

A redevelopment plan for Rosslare Europort to facilitate offshore wind farm construction, and associated operations and maintenance, is currently being progressed by Iarnród Éireann.

The State company wants to establish the port and its hinterland as an offshore renewable energy (ORE) hub, with the potential to create up to 2,000 jobs.

Source Galileo is developing 10GW of offshore wind projects off the coasts of Europe. In March the company secured funding from the Norwegian government to part-finance the development of its Goliat offshore wind project close to the Arctic Sea.

The Source Galileo MOU with Iarnród Éireann is non-exclusive.

Kevin Lynch, chief executive of Source Galileo, said: “Source Galileo is developing a portfolio of projects that will generate substantial clean renewable energy direct to homes and business across Ireland. We look forward to working with Iarnród Éireann.”

Rosslare Europort director Glenn Carr said: “We believe there are strong synergies to be achieved as we work together to place this renewable energy industry at the heart of Ireland’s decarbonised future.”

Late last year, Rosslare Europort formally applied for Marine Area Consent for its ORE hub plans, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.