Industry lobby group, the National Offshore Wind Association, has said Ireland needs to develop 3000 MW of offshore wind if it is to reach its EU energy targets.

NOW Ireland council member Aidan Forde said failure to harness our offshore resources will lead to substantial fines from the EU.

“The growth in our economy and the increased demand from large energy users such as data centres means that reaching our targets are becoming increasingly more challenging. It is now generally accepted that Ireland will miss our 2020 targets.”

Mr Forde said Ireland will still have a shortfall of 3,000 MW of renewable energy by 2030, even by allowing for the development of solar, biomass and the continued development of onshore wind at current rates.

NOW has estimated that the development of Ireland’s offshore industry will involve an investment of €8 billion and can create 20,000 jobs.

“As turbine sizes have increased and technology has improved, deployment and operational costs for offshore have fallen significantly. As more turbines are installed costs drop further. In the UK we are seeing cost reductions lead to a commitment to build 10,000 MW of offshore wind by 2020.”