Budget 2025 ‘may be last chance to plan resources for 2030 Climate Action Plan’

Budget 2025 may be the “last chance” to put in place the resources to deliver the 2030 Climate Action Plan, the wind energy industry has warned.

Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) said the state needs to increase investment for planning bodies to accelerate renewable energy projects.

In its Budget 2025 submission, it also called on the Government to invest in port infrastructure for the development of offshore wind energy.

Noel Cunniffe, chief executive of WEI, said: “We are simply not building wind farms quickly enough to keep up with the scale of renewable energy deployment we need. This means higher bills, more fossil fuel imports and even more carbon emissions.

“Recent investments in state agencies such as An Bord Pleanaala (ABP) and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) have improved the speed of decision-making on planning applications which is very positive.

“However, these organisations, and particularly local authority planning departments, still need more staff with the required expertise to assess an increasing amount of planning applications for critical renewable energy infrastructure like wind and solar farms.

“Giving the planning system the resources it needs to ensure applications for renewable energy and electricity grid infrastructure projects are thoroughly but quickly assessed is a vital investment for our future.”

WEI has also called for an Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Port Infrastructure Fund to help finance port infrastructure for offshore wind development.

This comes after research from DCU said at least two ports are needed to deliver Ireland’s 2030 offshore wind targets.

Mr Cunniffe said: “The recent EU funding announcement for the Port of Cork to develop its facilities to support the growth of Ireland’s offshore wind industry was welcome news.

“However, funding like this for one port, and the capital that all Irish ports will raise themselves, will not be enough to put in place the infrastructure needed for Ireland to meet our offshore wind goals.

“We expect that the first phase of Ireland’s offshore wind farms will be built in the coming years. The expansion of our ports so that they can be used to build and maintain these must happen if we want to build Irish offshore wind farms from Irish ports.”

The representative body has also called for funding to support the development of electricity infrastructure, such as energy storage and investment in the national grid.