In its Budget 2025 submission, Wind Energy Ireland has called on the government to give the planning system the funding it needs to help accelerate renewable energy projects and to put funding in place to invest in port infrastructure for the development of offshore wind energy.

The Irish wind energy industry warned that given the lengthy timelines for delivery, Budget 2025 may be the last chance to put in place the necessary resources to enable Ireland to deliver the Climate Action Plan for 2030.

The submission, titled Building a clean energy future for Ireland, outlines Wind Energy Ireland’s recommendations to Government ahead of the upcoming Budget that will be announced on October 1.

Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, said: “We are simply not building wind farms quickly enough to keep up with the scale of renewable energy deployment we need. This means higher bills, more fossil fuel imports and even more carbon emissions.

“Recent investments in State agencies such as An Bord Pleanála (ABP) and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) have improved the speed of decision-making on planning applications which is very positive.

“However, these organisations, and particularly local authority planning departments, still need more staff with the required expertise to assess an increasing amount of planning applications for critical renewable energy infrastructure like wind and solar farms.

“Giving the planning system the resources it needs to ensure applications for renewable energy and electricity grid infrastructure projects are thoroughly, but quickly, assessed is a vital investment for our future.”

Building new port infrastructure

Wind Energy Ireland has also called for the establishment of an Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Port Infrastructure Fund to help finance port infrastructure for offshore wind development. This follows the publication of new research from DCU (June 2024), which found that at least two ports are needed to deliver Ireland’s 2030 offshore wind targets.

Cunniffe said: “The recent EU funding announcement for the Port of Cork to develop its facilities to support the growth of Ireland’s offshore wind industry was welcome news. However, funding like this for one port, and the capital that all Irish ports will raise themselves, will not be enough to put in place the infrastructure needed for Ireland to meet our offshore wind goals.

“We expect that the first phase of Ireland’s offshore wind farms will be built in the coming years. The expansion of our ports so that they can be used to build and maintain these must happen if we want to build Irish offshore wind farms from Irish ports.”

“That is why we are calling for urgent support from the Irish Government to help finance the development of Irish ports by establishing a Port Infrastructure Fund to ensure that they have the financial resources they need to deliver key infrastructure in time. Updating the National Ports Policy to allow for this form of direct investment in our ports is also critical.”

Investing in our electricity infrastructure

Funding to support the development of electricity infrastructure, such as energy storage, is also addressed in the pre-budget submission. It highlights the need to have a strengthened electricity grid in place to distribute energy to our homes, businesses and transport systems.

The call came just after the United States declared its single greatest direct investment in grid infrastructure, totalling $2.2bn. Similarly, the United Kingdom recently announced that it will invest £3.4bn in new grid infrastructure to help deliver clean electricity to millions of homes and businesses across England and Scotland.

Cunniffe concluded: “Budget 2025 is an opportunity to put in place the incentives to develop important infrastructure to use and store renewable energy.

“When our wind and solar farms are generating electricity, we need a strong grid to ensure we can use it and we need long-duration energy storage so we can save the excess renewable energy for when we need it.

“The good news is the investment is there and if government, industry and communities work closely together, we can build our energy independence and deliver more affordable, clean energy for Irish families.”

WEI’s pre-budget submission is available to read in full here.