Ireland eyes feeding 50GW of offshore RE to European grid

Ireland is exploring the possibility of a major interconnector to feed its targeted 50GW of ocean energy, planned to be achieved by 2050, directly into the European grid, according to Denis Naughten, the country’s Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. 

Producing 50GW from ocean energy by 2050 is related to Ireland’s Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP), which provides a framework for sustainable development of the country’s offshore renewable energy resources by setting out key principles and policy actions.

OREDP identifies how best to link action across the environmental, energy and economic development sectors – using both existing wind and emerging ocean and tidal technologies.

Denis Naughten spoke at the International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE), held from June 12 to June 14 in France and, addressing specifically the energy ties between the two countries, he said that along with the development of ocean energy, the Celtic interconnection (being developed by Irish EirGrid and French RTE) is another example of fruitful cooperation between Ireland and France to make the European electricity system more secure and sustainable.

The 600km long Celtic interconnector will have the ability to import and export 700MW of electricity, and will also feature a direct fibre optic communications link between Ireland and France.

“Renewables are our future. And offshore is where the major growth opportunities are. We are ready to work with our European partners to exploit them in the very near future,” Naughten said at ICOE 2018.

MarineEnergy.biz Staff