Stephen O'Mahony On Moneypoint Future At Ennis Chamber Event

Clare FM

The manager of Moneypoint Power Station says he expects sites for offshore wind developments to be zoned "very soon". He was speaking at an event held by Ennis Chamber, during which Tánaiste Micheál Martin spoke of the importance of developing renewable energy infrastructure in this region. Published one year ago today, the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce report identifies harvesting 30 gigawatts of Atlantic wind energy by 2050 as its primary goal. According to the report, this would satisfy Ireland's current electricity demand five times over and the process would create 10,000 green jobs while securing a net zero status for the region. Twelve months on however, no sites have been zoned for renewable energy developments within the Shannon Estuary Maritime Area. Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce Chair, Barry O’Sullivan recently suggested local authorities should be given the power to do this in order to speed along the process. Speaking in Clare, Tánaiste Micheál Martin claims it'll be a number of years before the proposed projects are up and running. An agreement between the ESB and Danish firm Orsted signed last June, will see the development of two wind farms off the coast of Moneypoint Power Station, thus harnessing 1.4 gigawatts of renewable energy. As part of its transition away from fossil fuels, the power station will serve as an out of market generation of last resort, or backup power station, from 2025 to 2029. Station Manager at Moneypoint, Stephen O'Mahony is confident the areas where wind farm developments will be located will be revealed in the near future.