Manufacturing & Supply Chain

Enterprise Ireland recently hosted the fourth annual Offshore Wind Forum, which brought together key stakeholders from across the global sector, and focused on highlighting the opportunities that exist for Irish companies across this sector in international markets. The key themes for this year’s knowledge and networking event were ‘Market Opportunity, Innovation, and Collaboration’. Delivered with support from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Offshore Wind Forum was attended by Irish owned businesses in the renewable energy sector, as well as key industry decision makers and leaders from the offshore wind supply chain from across Ireland and international markets.

Declan Hughes, Secretary General of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, delivered the opening address at this year’s event, and attendees also received detailed updates from a range of speakers on sectoral and market opportunities across Europe and the United States, with a specific focus on the UK, France, Germany, the Nordics and Greece, and the East Coast and Gulf regions of the United States.

Ireland has ambitious targets for this sector, and the Government’s Climate Action Plan outlines its ambition to produce 5GW of offshore wind by energy by 2030. Enterprise Ireland previously launched the Gael Offshore Network at this event in 2022, and this cluster was formed in recognition of the economic opportunities available to Irish companies in the offshore wind sector, as well as the climate imperatives to move to renewable energy. Since its formation, many of the Gael Offshore Network member companies have benefited from association with the cluster, securing business and contracts in the offshore wind market from adjacent industries. 

Attendees at this year’s conference also heard from Keith Doherty of EirGrid, the developer and operator of the national electricity grid, on plans to bring greater amounts of renewable energy from wind onto the grid, as well as opportunities for the wider offshore supply chain.

A number of Irish-owned companies who are active in these sectors participated in a panel discussion focusing on ‘Lessons learned, subtleties of these markets’, which was moderated by Úna Brosnan, Director, Innovative Climate Solutions and Vice Chair of Renewable UK.  Participants included; Andrea Phillips, Chief Commercial Officer, XOCEAN; Charlotte O’Kelly, CEO, Techworks Marine; Kieran Ivers, CEO, Green Rebel; Barry Ward, Director, Cara Offshore; and Martin Rice, CEO, Farra Marine.

A second panel discussion focused on the proposed Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence and the Floating Offshore Wind Demonstrator, key initiatives in the Irish Government’s ‘Powering Prosperity, Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy’.  And this discussion explored how these two key projects can be developed to ensure that Ireland becomes a key player in the global offshore wind industry. This was moderated by Georgina Foley, Commercialisation with Enterprise Ireland, and included contributions from: Alan Duncan, Chief Executive Officer, Scotia Supply Chain; Jack McDermott, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Dan Finch, Country Manager for Ireland, Ocean Winds; and Jason Paterson, Innovation Manager, Net Zero Technology Centre, Aberdeen.

Collaborative efforts and innovative solutions are required to continue to deliver progress and advancements in the sector. And attendees had the opportunity to learn through the ‘Funding Innovation Projects’ section of the afternoon. This featured a number of presentations from key stakeholders across a number of agencies, focusing on funding for research, development and innovation, as well as speakers from companies who have utilised some of these funds to deliver innovative products and services, and included representatives from Enterprise Ireland, SEAI, Subsea Micropiles, Dublin Offshore and MMG Ocean.

Across the world in 2023, the industry connected 11 GW of offshore wind to the grid, representing a 24% year-on-year (YoY) increase – the second-best year ever, giving a total of 75 GW of global offshore wind capacity across three continents and 19 countries in operation by the end of 2023. Over 380 GW of offshore wind capacity, across 32 markets, is predicted to be added by 2030, with 1,000 GW expected to be installed by 2050. And over 40% of that growth is expected to come from Europe.

Speaking at thw event, Liam Curran, Senior Technologist, Enterprise Ireland, said: “With ever-growing demands to address climate-related challenges, innovative and pioneering Irish-owned companies are delivering solutions which are helping to address this globally. There are significant growth opportunities for Irish companies in the offshore wind space, including Irish businesses who can meet the supply chain needs of the sector. This is why events like the Offshore Wind Forum are so important, as they bring together companies and experts to learn, share and explore new global opportunities. Their innovations can help the sector to grow, achieve its ambitions, and contribute to our journey towards a more sustainable future.”