Thomas C Foley says nuclear power here still a political non-starter, writes Lorna Siggins,Marine Correspondent.

IRELAND NEEDS to expedite its approach to ocean energy if it is to avail of its natural advantage over competitors, US ambassador to Ireland Thomas C Foley has said.

This State could also "easily meet" its "ambitious and admirable" greenhouse gas emissions and alternative energy targets by substituting nuclear power for its current coal and gas-generated electrical power, Mr Foley said in Galway yesterday.

However, the "N-word" was still a "non-starter, politically" here, he said. "It's tougher in a democracy to make these decisions, unless you are a country like France," he added.

Mr Foley led a delegation of US investors who participated this week in an ocean energy workshop hosted by the Marine Institute in Galway. Some 18 months ago, he took a sea trip to the ocean energy test site off Spiddal, which is being managed by the Marine Institute and Sustainable Energy Ireland.

Prototypes developed by two Irish companies, Wavebob and Ocean Energy Ltd, have generated electricity in trials on the site, which began in 2006.

However, Mr Foley expressed disappointment that there was not a "greater sense of urgency" towards developing full-scale models. Ireland's natural advantage, due to latitude, weather, Atlantic location and current sources of electrical power being fossil fuel-based, gave it a distinct economic advantage in this sector.

"Ireland also has the human capital available to support its development. No one else I am aware of has all these advantages in relation to ocean energy," he said.

"Yet it doesn't feel to me that people are aware they are in a race here," he said. Expediting the pace would involve establishing a critical mass and developing a technological cluster before these were established elsewhere.

Such clusters in turn attracted entrepreneurs and investment, he said, and the US venture capital market was "pretty highly developed" for supporting "this kind of technology".

A co-ordinated, competitive strategy should be developed in conjunction with an industry group or government, to ensure that resources and time were not wasted, he said.

Awareness-raising was also vital, he added - the Marine Institute did not publicise the ocean energy workshop.

Partnership should be nurtured early on, he advised. "The idea is to bring the technology and development here - it doesn't have to be invented here."

Mr Foley said the US was "just as concerned as the EU about, and actively seeking solutions to, climate change", and he noticed a "tempering of emotions" on the climate change issue in Ireland as the public became better informed here.

"I notice, for example, that the backers of the Eurocentric Kyoto approach to climate change are begrudgingly recognising that an international accord that is going to be successful must include all the major polluters - such as China, India, Brazil and Mexico," Mr Foley said.

"I suspect that European policy-makers realise that for this to happen, the result probably won't be achieved through a typical European model of implementing top-down regulatory controls, targeted primarily at capping consumption. A more balanced, globally acceptable model will need to be designed and implemented," he said.

Mr Foley said that he believed ocean energy had greater potential in terms of sourcing renewable energy than wind power, due to its greater consistency and the fact that wind power was often seen as a "potential blight on the environment".

Mr Foley said he would like to see "a permit at least for a full-scale ocean energy installation" in Galway Bay in place before his departure from Ireland next January.

Earlier this year, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan initiated a €26 million ocean energy programme, which includes a guaranteed feed-in tariff promising producers €220 per megawatt hour of electricity supplied, and €2 million to develop a power grid connector at Annagh/French Point, near Belmullet, Co Mayo.

The Government has set a target of delivering 500 megawatts of power from wave energy by 2030.

A commercial-scale tidal turbine located in Strangford Lough fed electricity to the Northern Irish grid for the first time earlier this week. SeaGen is being developed by British company Marine Current Turbines, and has attracted €4 million in investment from ESB International.

ESB Independent Energy, ESB's retail subsidiary, has signed a five-year power purchase agreement with the operators of the SeaGen tidal installation.