The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) in conjunction with the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) has published the first report on the future shipping and ports requirements for the Irish marine renewable energy industry.

The study highlights the importance of developing Ireland’s shipping and ports facilities in order to facilitate the future growth of our marine renewable industry. It contains a detailed analysis of the existing ports infrastructure and shipping facilities that are available to support the industry’s development.

Examining the appropriate port resources needed for developments at various coastal locations, the report finds that the east coast is best placed to support fixed offshore wind and tidal installations, whereas the south and west coasts are best placed to support wave, fixed and floating wind installations. It recommended bringing forward the first phase of dedicated port locations and also specifies the further requirement for shipping support vessels to support large offshore renewable energy developments.

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According to the Head of the Ocean Energy Development Unit at SEAI, Eoin Sweeney: "The development of appropriate port locations is critical to Ireland becoming a base for construction and assembly of wind turbines and ocean energy devices. We have a significant opportunity given the very large marine renewable resources available off both our east and west coasts, but we now need to look at the investment in infrastructure required if we are to properly capitalise on the current opportunities in this area. The concern is that if these facilities are not available, offshore wind developers and wave and tidal manufacturers could source the manufactured equipment for projects outside Ireland."

(CD/GK)