Shaping Our Offshore Energy Future
As part of Shaping Our Offshore Energy Future, EirGrid plans to develop offshore electricity substations and associated undersea electricity cables. This new infrastructure will bring the power generated by offshore windfarms into our national grid.
Project Overview
EirGrid develops, manages, and operates Ireland’s electricity grid. We are responsible for the safe, secure and reliable supply of Ireland’s electricity. Our job is to bring power from where it is generated to where it is needed throughout Ireland, onshore and offshore.
We are also leading the secure transition of the electricity grid to a sustainable low-carbon future. The Government of Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2023 places offshore wind power at the centre of the state’s commitment to producing 80% of our energy from renewable sources by 2030.
What's Included?
While EirGrid is not responsible for generating electricity or building windfarms, we are responsible for connecting electricity generation infrastructure, such as offshore and onshore windfarms, into our national electricity grid.
As part of Shaping Our Offshore Energy Future, EirGrid plans to develop offshore electricity substations and associated undersea electricity cables. This new infrastructure will bring the power generated by offshore windfarms into our national electricity grid.
To achieve this we will need to develop:
- An offshore substation off the coast of Waterford or Wexford
- An offshore substation off the coast of Cork
- A connection between the offshore substations and existing substations onshore, including undersea and underground electricity cables
- New substations near to existing substations onshore.
Our Role
In March 2023, the Government published a framework that outlined a four-phase process for developing offshore wind energy infrastructure.
In the short-term, the framework is based on a developer-led approach, taking advantage of projects that have been in development for several years. In the medium to long-term it transitions to a plan-led approach in which EirGrid plays a key role.
Benefits of the Project
The Offshore project will help deliver up to 900MW of additional electricity. The new electricity will be generated by offshore wind farms in Irish waters.
Read our brochure to see the most up to date information on this project.
Project Contacts
Michelle Walsh
Community Liaison Officer
Phone: +353 85 870 4999 Email: southcoastoffshore@eirgrid.ie
Eoghan O’Sullivan
Community Liaison Officer
Phone: +353 87 247 7732 Email: southcoastoffshore@eirgrid.ie
Project Updates
February 2024
In line with the update provided in December 2023 by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications for the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP), EirGrid understands that a draft DMAP is due to be published in Spring 2024.
This will provide further detail on future offshore renewable energy along the south coast of Ireland.
EirGrid is therefore withdrawing the current foreshore licence applications on the south coast and will await the detail of this upcoming plan.
New licence application/s will subsequently be made to the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) in accordance with updated legislative provisions.