Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce Report launched by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

The establishment of a National Floating Offshore Wind development agency is one of the key recommendations in the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce report.

The taskforce was established in April 2022 to evaluate the economic potential of the Shannon estuary and the lands that border its extensive coastline, and how these can be exploited and realised in a sustainable way up to 2050 and beyond.

The taskforce action plan, launched by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the Ardnacrusha power station in Co Clare, has been described as transformational in its purpose and scale.

The setting for the launch of the plan is symbolic - the location of the State's largest engineering project of the 20th century - and the Taoiseach believes this could be the Shannon Scheme 2.0.

The taskforce report outlines the estuary’s vast potential for the development of wind energy off the Atlantic coast, the generation of green industries around an Atlantic green digital corridor as a result and the export of green energy to our EU partners.

The report also identifies the further development of low-carbon slow tourism products, which would complement its attraction as a region to live in, to invest in and to visit.

The report is also a practical action plan around how to realise this by identifying the policy and infrastructural deficits that are also needed to harvest those opportunities.

The taskforce found that a confluence of factors - the estuary's natural resources, the necessity to meet energy demand while also providing energy security, brought on by the significant crises of climate change and the war in Ukraine - reinforced the necessity and timing of its work.

It has identified that the vast 500 square kilometres of deep sheltered waters in the estuary, facing out into the Atlantic, with proximity to the world’s best wind resources, is uniquely primed to deliver global scale offshore wind energy.

Chair of the taskforce Barry O’Sullivan said having completed their work, they believe the Shannon estuary region can play a significant part in energy self-sufficiency and decarbonisation, for both Ireland and Europe, and in doing so, create enormous new economic opportunities not previously possible.

And the bigger opportunity by far is also the export of energy and the products made using it, to the EU and beyond, where the demand for energy is very high.

It also believes the estuary region can become a significant manufacturing location for products such as hydrogen, industrial feedstocks, green fertiliser, sustainable aviation and marine fuels, green steel and aluminium and green data storage.

The scale of the potential in jobs and investment is ambitious, with 50,000 green jobs predicted by 2050, and the area area becoming a net zero region by 2035 by utilising Atlantic wind energy.

In addition, they foresee that the development of this wind energy at scale could mean that towns across the region, from Listowel to Roscrea and up to Galway, could support green energy data centres and chip manufacturing.

The development of a National Floating offshore Wind Development agency is a key recommendation to engage with potential wind developers and the State system to deliver on its potential, and attract the capital investment required to bring that green power ashore.

But it also warns a note of caution that Ireland’s ability to benefit from this offshore wind resource should not be taken for granted.

A number of significant policy, infrastructure and regulatory barriers exist that require urgent action to entice major market players, such as developers and international Tier One firms to invest here, by adding more certainty to the project costs, to improving support local supply chains and improving development and delivery time frames.

During the course of their extensive consultations, the taskforce said the universal feedback from wind developers is that Ireland is now several years behind other countries in Europe in developing floating offshore wind and despite recent progress, has much to do to streamline and accelerate permitting processes, as agreed at EU level.

Clarity on long-term Atlantic offshore energy policy is now a key measure needed to build investor confidence and accelerate critical enabling infrastructure at our ports and the onshore and offshore grid.

Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce Report

[Source: Dept. Enterprise, Trade and Employment]

The independent Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce was established in April 2022 to make recommendations to government on the economic development potential of the Shannon Estuary region.

The Taskforce’s Final Report sets out recommendations for the delivery of up to 30GW of Atlantic Offshore Wind through the Estuary by 2050, and measures to maximise the industrial development opportunities arising from this.

Also included are proposed actions for scaling up the deployment of onshore renewable energy across the region, and proposed new initiatives in the transport, logistics, connectivity, and tourism sectors.

Click here to view the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce Report in full.