I am confident that plans to develop an offshore wind project off Moneypoint in west Clare will continue to make progress.
This follows the announcement from Equinor, the ESB’s partner on the Green Atlantic project, that they are withdrawing from their involvement in offshore wind development in Ireland due to concerns that the regulatory process was proving time consuming.
It was a concern to hear that Equinor had withdrawn from the Irish market but I am confident that the Moneypoint project will not be derailed.
The ESB has unequivocally committed to ensuring that the Moneypoint offshore project will not be affected by this development. I will however continue to keep this project to the forefront of government planning.
In a statement the ESB said that it remains fully committed to developing and delivering
their portfolio of offshore wind projects, including ESB Green Atlantic at Moneypoint.
“ESB believes that these projects will make an important contribution to the Programme for
Government’s 5GW of offshore wind by 2030 target. Our Green Atlantic at Moneypoint
project embracing four phases is also progressing well. Phase One, a €50m project
involving the construction and commissioning of the largest synch compensator in the
world, is approaching completion. We are very confident of significant international
investor interest in the wider Green Atlantic Project,” the ESB statement added.
The Moneypoint project is essential both in terms of local employment opportunities and with regard to ensuring that Ireland’s plans to develop offshore wind electricity generation capacity off the coast of Ireland.
