Harnessing our natural resources including wave, can help Ireland achieve its climate targets and provide clean energy for homes, farms, and businesses.
The Saoirse wave energy project aims at proving the viability of wave energy in our Irish seas. Located at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, where waves have been created by strong winds travelling over long distances, the Irish west coast has an exceptionally high wave resource making it an ideal place to demonstrate and develop wave energy in Europe. It is estimated that Ireland has up to 18GW of wave resource off its west coast.
The benefits of wave energy lie in its power profile which complements other renewables such as wind and solar, thus supporting grid balancing. Additionally, in co-location with wind farms wave arrays can improve the power density of offshore energy parks.
This project supports the delivery of key national and EU targets:
- The EU green deal target of 1GW by 2030 of ocean energy (wave and tidal) installed capacity
- The EU Renewable Energy Directive revision has set an indicative target for innovative renewable energy technology to count for at least 5% of newly installed renewable energy capacity by 2030
- The SEAI Offshore Renewable Energy technology roadmap shows deployment opportunities for wave energy projects off Ireland ranging from 150MW to 4GW by 2050.
Subject to the necessary consents and a grid connection, it is envisaged that Saoirse will be operational in 2030.
The project is being co-funded by the European Union, Emissions Trading System Innovation. More information on the fund can be found here.