National Offshore Wind Association of Ireland (NOW Ireland), said that it welcomed the UK government’s announcement that it would develop a further 25 gigawatts of energy through offshore wind by 2020.

However, it added that Irish officials needed to now try to encourage greater uptake of wind power in the country.

“The UK announcement is only one of a number of recent announcements by major European Governments, with Germany, Denmark and Sweden all making further commitments towards introducing a framework to assist in the development of their offshore capacity,” commented Torben Andersen of NOW Ireland.

“Offshore wind is now recognised throughout Europe as the one clean renewable power source that is capable of delivering capacity close to that of fossil-fuel based generation.

“NOW Ireland is calling on the Government to examine the potential of offshore wind and carry out a full cost-benefit analysis leading, if successful, to a commitment to introducing a framework which will support the deployment of offshore wind energy technology in Ireland.”

The pressure group also suggested that the lack of action in the country on the issue was delaying up to Euro 4bn worth of investment.

James Cooper

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