Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 October 2022
37. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport the way in which he intends to support Rosslare Port to become ready to act as a construction and installation port for offshore wind; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50513/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraRosslare Europort is unique among the State-owned ports, as it is not a commercial company operating under the Harbours Acts but is instead operated on a commercial basis as a division of Iarnród Éireann. Like all other commercial state ports, its investments must be funded from port revenues.
While the primary function of our commercial State ports is to facilitate maritime transport, it is recognised that there is a pressing need for Ireland to have the port capacity in place to exploit the opportunities presented by ORE.
To provide clarity to stakeholders, including ports, I published a Policy Statement in December 2021 on the facilitation of Offshore Renewable Energy by commercial ports in Ireland, setting out a Government's multiport approach to the provision of the necessary port facilities.
Ireland will potentially need to build on a phased basis, around 4 to 5 standard ORE port facilities (each capable of building 500 MW of ORE annually) that will act as construction and deployment ports over the next 25 – 30 years. In addition, a number of smaller ports will be required for ORE Operation and Maintenance activities. A multiport approach will ultimately allow investments that are commercially viable in the long-term progress without undermining the ability of any port to meet its primary obligations in relation to the facilitation of international trade.
Located on the east coast where the first Offshore Wind Energy (ORE) developments will progress, Rosslare Europort is ideally situated to service a range of windfarms in the Irish Sea.
A number of ports, including Rosslare, and private entities are already progressing plans to provide the facilities and infrastructure required to assist the ORE sector to develop in Ireland. It is intended that the first largescale facilities that will be required at construction and deployment stage will be in situ as early as possible, subject to all consents being obtained in a timely fashion.
In order to capture the wider and longer the economic and business opportunities associated with ORE, significant work is ongoing at official level across a number of Government Departments to accelerate delivery of the various workstreams that are needed for the development of ORE in Ireland, including the delivery of port infrastructure. This includes the establishment of a Ports Co-Ordination Committee in this Department which involves ports and relevant Departments to ensure alignment with Government policy in the delivery of the port projects.
Work is also underway in the Department of Environment, Communications and Climate in preparation for the holding of the Offshore Renewable Energy Support Scheme (ORESS1) auction. The completion of this auction will provide clarity around the projects to be progressed and allow for deeper engagement between developers and ports on requirements and revenue streams for services. In addition, the Government has decided that ORE projects will be prioritised through all planning and consenting stages.
It is envisaged that like all port infrastructure, the ORE facilities will be funded though a combination of port revenues, EU funding and borrowing from the likes of ISIF, EIB and other financial institutions.
In order to maximise EU funding opportunities, the Department engaged extensively with other Member States and the Commission advocating for the inclusion of funding for ORE required port infrastructure under the Connecting Europe Funding facility (CEF). The CEF criteria was extended in 2021 to allow EU funding of port infrastructure for ORE for ports (or terminals within ports) on the Trans European Network for Transport (TEN-T). This is significant as successful applicants can obtain grant funding of up to 50% of eligible costs for studies and up 30% of infrastructure works costs. This is a competitive process and generally oversubscribed. While the outcome of the 2021 CEF call was disappointing, the 2022 CEF call is now underway. It is expected that ports, including Rosslare Europort, will be making new applications for EU funding under that call. The Department assists, as appropriate, eligible applicants with the application process. In addition, my Department and I engaged intensively with the EU Commission, along with separate feedback to ports, to understand the 2021 decisions so that we could work towards a better outcome for the 2022 CEF call.
