- The Irish first round of offshore wind projects is now eligible to apply for MACs.
- Irish Minister of Environment Eamon Ryan says offshore wind development will eventually reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels.
The Irish government announced that the first round of offshore wind projects is now eligible to apply for Maritime Area Consents (MACs). Seven suitable projects, referred to as “relevant projects,” are eligible to apply. Eamon Ryan, the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change, and Communications, has interim powers to review them until a maritime area agency is constituted next year.
In the second half of 2022, the first MACs are likely to be given. This would allow the first offshore wind auction, the Offshore Renewable Energy Support Scheme, to begin in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Oriel Wind Park, two RWE projects — Bray and Kish Banks, Codling Wind Park, which consists of two projects — Codling I and Codling II, Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta’s Skerd Rocks, and the North Irish Sea Array are among the seven eligible projects.