Offshore wind projects in the Celtic and Irish Seas are progressing well with a new partnership.

ESB and Iarnród Éireann (Port Authority for Rosslare Europort) have signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate on their respective development plans for the project.

With ESB developing a portfolio of offshore wind farms, and Rosslare Europort progressing plans to establish the port as Ireland's offshore renewables hub, the MOU establishes a common goal of maximising the opportunities of each parties' respective development plans.

The agreement sets out the two organisations' intention to work together with the aim of developing a port solution capable of supporting ESB's offshore developments in Ireland, in line with the country's climate action targets and ESB's Net Zero by 2040 strategy.

In 2022, Rosslare Europort management announced plans to establish the port, its hinterland and the south-east region as Ireland's Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Hub, with the potential to create up to 2,000 jobs.

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The port is uniquely located within 60-100 nautical miles of most of the planned developments in the Irish and Celtic seas, including many of the portfolio of OWF projects being developed by ESB within Ireland. 

Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers T.D. said: "Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) is integral to meeting Ireland's Climate Change ambitions with a target of achieving 7GW of offshore energy by 2030, 2GW of which is dedicated to the production of green hydrogen.

"As set out in a policy statement published in December 2021 a multiport approach to the provision of port infrastructure will facilitate the development of ORE in Ireland which will help maximise the economic benefits at regional as well as national level in terms of the creation of jobs and new SME enterprise that can support the development of the ORE industry.

"This agreement between Rosslare Europort and ESB is a welcome demonstration of the collaboration and commitment by these two commercial entities in delivering on our ORE ambitions."

Paul Lennon, Head of Offshore Wind and Hydrogen at ESB commented: "ESB has ambitious plans for the development of offshore wind, hydrogen and renewable storage projects in Ireland to support the renewable targets set out in the Climate Action Plan 2023 and ESB's Net Zero by 2040 corporate strategy. ESB looks forward to working with Irish Rail to ensure that suitable port infrastructure is available at Rosslare Europort to enable the successful delivery of these projects."