Reality won't stop Ireland committing to more offshore wind auctions

Ireland will go ahead with at least three more offshore wind auctions by the end of this decade, its marine minister told Reuters on Thursday, adding that it was unlikely the country would meet its target of 80 per cent of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030.

The commitment to offshore wind comes despite cost blowouts, public opinion, and efficiency, cost and environmental impact concerns, which have caused auctions to fail and cancellations and postponements of projects around the globe, almost all of which are heavily subsidised.

"There'll be probably three more auctions, maybe more (towards 2030)," Timmy Dooley, a junior minister at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications said on the sidelines of a wind conference in Copenhagen.

They would come in addition to Ireland's second offshore wind auction which is scheduled later this year, aiming to procure 900 MW of capacity.

"We don't see any pathway back to fossil fuels ... We are absolutely committed to offshore wind as the energy source of the future," Dooley said.

A government spokesperson said that they expected to get ten bids in the upcoming auction.

While Ireland will move ahead with its target of reaching a combined five gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, 20 GW by 2040 and 37 GW by 2050, Dooley said it would be challenging to meet the target of 80 per cent renewable electricity generation by 2030.

"(But) it will be close ... We hope to be a long way there by 2030," Dooley said.

Ireland's recently re-elected coalition government reaffirmed its pledge to achieving 80 per cent of Ireland's electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030 in its policy programme published in January.

The government is working to remove obstacles to development, with marine area planning reforms and port infrastructure investments underway, Dooley said.

The country supposedly generates around 40-45 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources, primarily from over five GW of installed onshore wind capacity, grid operator EirGrid data showed.

Ireland has just 25 MW of offshore capacity as of today.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Ed Osmond)