Ireland’s coastline could meet our electricity needs four times over, that’s according to a new report.
Ocean Energy Europe, which represents the offshore power industry, says that Ireland is better placed that anywhere else in Europe to become a wave energy powerhouse.
“There is enough wave resource to cover all the electricity consumption in Ireland and export a large amount of electricity over Europe,” Ocean Energy Europe said.
Hotspots along the west coast offer the best potential, according to the energy association, including Mayo, Galway, Kerry and Cork. There are also significant tidal opportunities around Rathlin Sound and Wicklow Head.
Ireland’s wave and tidal potential has been discussed for decades, but the massive power estimated by Ocean Energy Europe is stark.
“Ireland has the best wave resource in the European Union,”, Ocean Energy Europe says.
If all the potential was realised, Ireland could produce four times the power it needs, the energy association estimates. That would leave room for more hungry data centres with plenty left over to export to other parts of Europe.
But it means getting projects off the ground with regulatory hurdles still a major barrier.
A flagship wave farm project off the coast of County Clare recently failed to proceed due to what Ocean Energy Europe calls “regulatory permitting bottlenecks”.
A scheme for 12 turbines was rejected earlier this year due to “aviation safety” concerns.
There are also questions over the ability of the grid to cope with a large uptick of extra power coming in.
It comes as the European Environment Agency (EEA) has urged for “accelerating the deployment of renewables and improving energy efficiency within the EU” which it says are “strategic necessities, especially in the face of escalating geopolitical tensions.”
The EU accepts that the war in the Middle East has demonstrated, once again, Europe’s energy vulnerability.
The EEA says that rolling out renewable energy would “reduce vulnerability to fossil fuel supply shocks” and dependency.
Critics of renewables ask what happens when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine. But crucially, ocean energy generates power at different times than wind or solar, providing an ideal complement to help balance the national grid.
To reach the EU’s 2030 climate targets, the EEA says that governments, including Ireland, must increase investment and streamline red tape.
The potential rewards for Ireland remain immense.
“With sufficient policy and financial support, the country could become a global leader in ocean energy,” Ocean Energy Europe said.
Across the EU, one fifth of Europe’s electricity could come from wave and tidal power.
If that was realised, ocean power would overtake fossil fuels and hydro.
The UK and France host some of the world’s best tidal resources. Wave energy alone could meet over 100 percent of electricity demand in Ireland and Portugal, 55 percent in the UK and over 30 percent in Spain, Ocean Energy Europe said.