Norwegian government-owned energy group Statkraft said it is on track to develop about three gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy projects in the Republic of Ireland by 2030 – the equivalent of more than half of current peak demand in the State.
Statkraft’s roadmap includes 1.5GW of projects that have recently been built or are already in construction as well as an additional 330 megawatts (MW) of planned projects backed by the Government’s renewable energy supply scheme or corporate power purchase agreements.
It also includes a plan to deliver a 500MW offshore wind farm off the coast of counties Dublin, Meath and Louth, having secured a contract last year with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners to develop the project under the State’s first offshore wind auction. In addition, the company has 400MW of wind and solar projects with planning permission and 375MW of similar projects that have been submitted to An Bord Pleanála for authorisation.
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Statkraft said that it has also secured enough land to allow for a pipeline of 200-250MW of projects to be submitted a year for planning permission over the next three or four years.
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The new stated target of having the projects developed by 2030 aligns with the Government’s ambition of generating 80 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by the end of the decade.
Statkraft, Europe’s largest renewable energy group, entered the Irish market in 2018 through the purchase of the Irish and UK wind development business of the US-headquartered Element Power Group.
[ Wind farms produced 35% of Ireland’s electricity last year, says industry reportOpens in new window ]
The three-gigawatt target would make Statkraft one of the largest operators in the State by the end of the decade as demand for electricity grows at pace, amid a growing economy and the national plans to reduce carbon emissions. The Government has a target for 8.2GW of onshore and 5GW of offshore wind by 2030.
“We’ve always said that there’s no silver bullet to reducing emissions from the energy sector,” said Kevin O’Donovan, managing director of Statkraft Ireland. “Ireland’s energy future needs will be powered by a range of renewable technologies working in harmony, so we’re proud to be one of the country’s first renewable energy companies to have a fully integrated approach to clean energy production.”
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