Rosslare Europort says it has “reached a significant milestone” in developing its offshore renewable energy (ORE) hub with approval of a draft foreshore license for final site investigations.
It says it “paves the way for its planning application to be submitted in time” to ensure an operational offshore renewable hub is operational to “meet the needs of the successful bidders in the Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS-1) auctions”.
Four offshore wind energy developments were successful in the State’s first ORESS auction, the results of which were released by Eirgrid on May 11th.
Rosslare Europort says its hub “will be the first of its kind in a port within the Republic of Ireland”.
“Representing a €220M investment, this world-class facility will provide the ORE industry with the necessary port infrastructure to support the many wind farm projects planned for the Irish and Celtic Seas,” it said in a statement.
“The huge economic benefits that this sector can bring to Ireland have yet to be fully realised,” it said.
“ There is enough renewable energy off our coasts to not only meet Ireland’s needs but also to become a major contributor to decarbonising Europe’s energy supply. Aligned with this, Ireland must invest heavily in its port infrastructure and supporting facilities to be in a position to deliver these major renewable infrastructure projects,” it said.
Ports are a central part of offshore wind development. They play a vital role in local supply chains, logistics, and supporting infrastructure as major components, equipment, and wind turbines all need to be facilitated with port side staging, marshalling and assembly activities.
Rosslare Europort director of commercial business units Glenn Carr, who is employed by Iarnród Éireann, its port authority, congratulated “all of those involved in Ireland’s first offshore wind auction”.
Rosslare Europort director of commercial business units Glenn Carr
“The four successful wind farms can progress their projects in the knowledge that by the time construction commences, Rosslare Europort will have progressed our current plans to establish a dedicated offshore renewables hub,” he said.
We have already advanced our development plans for major infrastructure upgrades at Rosslare Europort to ensure that we are in a position to support these phase one projects with the construction of their offshore assets,” Carr said.
Rosslare Europort’s ORE plan includes establishing deep-water berths, heavy lift quays and lay-down areas to facilitate turbines and major components. It said last year that the hub investment had the “potential to create up to 2,000 jobs”
