For those with fuzzy memories, it may be a surprise to learn that Ireland actually led the global offshore wind industry 20 years ago. The Arklow Bank wind farm became operational in 2004, putting this island nation at the forefront of the industry. However, Ireland’s efforts to enhance its offshore wind capacity immediately stagnated, and not one turbine has been installed offshore since then. In the meantime, other countries, including Scotland, England, and the Netherlands, have powered ahead of us.
Stakeholders are frustrated by what they see as wholesale inertia in what is a critical aspect of the clean energy transition. Ireland, they say, has failed to capitalise on its vast wind energy resources and has little prospect of meeting the Government targets – namely, the delivery of 5GW of offshore wind targeted by 2030, growing to 20GW by 2040 and at least 37GW by 2050.
The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, has hit the ground running, however. While acknowledging that the State has “ambitious” offshore renewable energy (ORE) targets, he says they have been accelerating policy in the ORE space at a “significant” scale.
The national Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) for offshore renewable energy, which was approved by the Government earlier this year, forms part of the Programme for Government commitment to “fast-track offshore wind development”. The plan identifies four maritime areas in the Irish part of the Celtic Sea within which proposed future ORE projects may be located.
The plan will hopefully be preceded by a number of what are known as phase one offshore wind projects off the east coast, all of which submitted planning applications in 2024. These projects, the Government says, have the capacity to deliver the bulk of Ireland’s 5GW offshore wind energy target.
The phase one projects include Oriel Wind Farm off the coast of Louth; North Irish Sea Array off the coast of north Co Dublin; Dublin Array which is off the coast of Dún Laoghaire and north Wicklow; Codling Wind Park which is off the coast of Wicklow; Arklow Bank; and the cancelled Sceirde Rocks project off the Galway coast.
In May of this year, Wind Energy Ireland launched an Offshore Wind Action Plan setting out the key actions on which they say Ireland needs to see delivery in the coming year. The report states unequivocally that without the delivery of the initial phase one offshore wind projects, there remains no offshore wind industry in Ireland, which they say will pose serious risks to Ireland’s ability to meet 2030 renewable electricity targets and Government commitments.
“Every effort must be made by the Irish Government and relevant State bodies and agencies to strategically and actively support these projects at each step of the way until the turbines are in the water and exporting clean, renewable electricity to consumers,” the report states.
“It’s essential we ensure that we deliver the remaining phase one projects, that after our first auction of the new sites in the south coast DMAP we move forward with the other three sites as quickly as possible, that we ensure the planned national map for future offshore wind energy projects is delivered on time and that we invest in critically needed infrastructure like ports and the electricity grid,” says Noel Cunniffe, chief executive, Wind Energy Ireland.
“What we decide to do in the next 12 months will determine whether we have boats in the water constructing wind farms in 2030 and whether the 2040 targets remain within reach.”
Cunniffe believes “clarity and certainty” are needed on timelines to facilitate and de-risk the longer-term investment decisions that will be required to maintain Ireland’s competitiveness in the global offshore wind market. “A roadmap containing consistent future development opportunities, to follow the initial projects, must be clearly set out,” he says. “A stop-start approach, shifting Government policy and continuous periods of peaks and troughs will not attract consistent investment and commitment to the Irish market.”
Captain Phil Murphy is the project manager in offshore wind at South East Technological University (SETU) – the first person to hold that title. He has over 35 years of experience in the marine industry across multiple sectors including shipping, fishing, aquaculture, leisure, and coastal. Murphy admits that Ireland has “let the ball drop” on offshore wind but also stresses that the country was in a very different place back then.
“Hindsight is fabulous but that’s 20 years ago,” he says. “If you think about how we live now compared to how we lived then, even in that relatively short time, we didn’t have EVs, we didn’t have smartphones, AI, all that power-driven demand. We were obviously aware of climate change, but it wasn’t nearly as embedded into our national thinking or even our individual thinking, as it is now.”
Murphy agrees that other countries have surged ahead of us when it comes to building that offshore wind capacity, but he points out that many of them had inherent advantages and thus a head start. “When you think of Scotland and the northeast of England in particular, we must remember that they have and had a significant oil and gas industry, so they had all the infrastructure that came with that, such as deep ports, and a big manufacturing and industrial base. As the oil and gas industry was declining, it was a natural thing for them to pivot into offshore wind.”
Ireland, he says, can benefit from the experience of our near neighbours and also use our own unique skills to improve upon it. “We can definitely learn from them and develop some really good relationships with them,” he says. “We won’t be manufacturing cables, we won’t be manufacturing turbines, but we could be involved in the really clever stuff, the AI, the data piece of it, the cybersecurity piece, the high value, the things that Ireland is really, really good at.”
One of the myriad barriers to fully exploiting our offshore wind capabilities is, of course, funding – the clean energy transition will require significant investment. AIB is taking a leading role in financing Ireland’s transition to renewable energy leveraging its €30 billion climate and transition fund, says Paul Travers, managing director climate capital, with the bank. AIB’s climate capital arm, established in 2024, is the bank’s flagship initiative for financing large-scale energy and infrastructure projects.
Travers says it has recently surpassed a €5 billion lending milestone, supporting transformational onshore and offshore wind projects across Ireland, Europe, the UK, and North America. These include partnerships with leading renewable developers such as ESB, NTR, and Power Capital. “AIB often acts as lead arranger in syndicates, bringing international expertise to domestic transactions and reinforcing Ireland’s reputation in sustainable finance in energy projects,” he explains.
AIB has also financed strategic enabling infrastructure. In 2022, AIB joined seven other banks in a consortium to provide debt financing for the Greenlink Interconnector’s construction, a strategic asset that helps underpin energy security and that will help export surplus renewable energy, particularly from future offshore wind generation, says Travers.
“AIB is of the view that offshore wind represents a significant opportunity for Ireland and we are committed to supporting the sector’s growth through strategic partnerships and responsible finance, as the opportunities arise,” he adds. “When the time comes for further funding to be provided to offshore wind in Ireland, we have the expertise and ability to assess these opportunities ready to go.”
The mood music for offshore wind is finally sounding positive. It is worth remembering, Travers says, that Ireland is already regarded as one of the leading countries in the world for the integration of onshore wind onto our electricity system. “A report from Wind Energy Ireland published in January 2025, showed that in 2024, Irish wind farms provided nearly one-third of the island’s electricity, surpassing 5GW of installed onshore wind capacity.”
Ireland can build on our expertise and achievements in onshore wind, Murphy agrees. In terms of our ambitious – some might say impossible – targets, he is optimistic, noting that a deadline helps to “concentrate minds”.
“It’s going to be a big ask, there is no doubt about it, but I’m very positive that I think we’ll get there,” he says. “As an island nation, we have to realise what we’ve got in the marine world, which is seven times our land mass. We’ve got to look at it for the good of Ireland. If we want clean, renewable electricity, if we want security of power, if we want to provide for population growth, we all have to give a little bit to make that happen.”
Murphy is confident that the phase one projects will progress and that the full roll-out of DMAP will be completed by 2027. “The naysayers want it done tomorrow, but it’s an extremely complex thing to progress. But we know now that the Government is full square behind this.”