THE IRISH ocean energy industry has called on the Government to earmark four initial “development zones” for marine renewable developments over the next decade.
Four coastal areas – east of Wicklow, off west Clare, off north-west Mayo and off Kerry’s Dingle peninsula – have been proposed by the Marine Renewables Industry Association in a White Paper published this week.
This would help Ireland to achieve a 500-megawatt target for wave and tidal capacity by 2020, it says.
As it stands, the target will require a “major co-ordinated effort” across all Government departments and agencies.
The association, an umbrella group representing both tidal and wave energy interests, says the island enjoys a “massive” unexploited natural wave resource, and a significant tidal energy potential off the east and northeast coasts.
The paper notes that Irish companies like Wavebob, Ocean Energy and Open Hydro are among the leading developers in the world of wave and tidal energy conversion technologies.
It also notes that the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is developing a new national wave energy test site off Belmullet, northwest Mayo, and a quarter-scale wave energy test site has been in place in Galway Bay off Spiddal.
It also notes the plans to relocate and expand the University College Cork hydraulics and maritime research centre as part of the new Maritime and Energy Research Campus (Merc 3) at Ringaskiddy in Cork.
However, the document predicts that it will cost at least €1.5 billion alone to produce devices capable of meeting the 2020 target, with significant additional investment in supporting infrastructure.
This could in turn create several thousand new jobs to support an emerging industry, it says.
The association believes that ocean energy technology, which is still developing, will “mature” after 2020, similar to the wind energy sector.
It says that the cost of producing electricity from wave and tidal energy sources will fall and the industry will develop an export market via interconnectors to other countries, particularly Britain.
It says that it is “important to create both an economic and regulatory environment that would create more certainty for the development of ocean energy, particularly for investors.
“Transparency, predictability and certainty in statutory consenting processes are important considerations for investors, who will take business risks of unprecedented scale with ocean energy investments,” it says.
It says that a new consenting procedure for marine renewables in the short term is expected to be introduced by the Department of the Environment, and this is “eagerly awaited” by the industry.
The group says that it should be backed up by policy guidelines at national, regional and local level, to facilitate early development of technology, test sites and full scale ocean energy projects.
It recommends a “one-stop shop” for a “fair and modern” consenting system.
The initial development zones identified by the industry association involve a tidal zone from Wicklow to Brittas Bay and three wave energy zones: from Loop Head to Hags Head in west Clare; from Benwee Head to Achill Head in northwest Mayo; and northwest of the Dingle peninsula, north Kerry.
Each of these zones would extend out to the 12 nautical mile limit, according to the white paper.