Floating Offshore
Floating offshore wind technology is already being deployed around the world. The north and West coasts of Ireland have the best wind resource in the world.
The deployment of floating turbines off the coast will see Ireland become one of the Europes most important energy generators and bring employment and investment to the region.
The Opportunity
- Offshore wind will represent nearly 17% of the total global installed wind capacity of 6044 GW in 2050
- There will be a near ten-fold growth in offshore wind capacities by 2030
- 90% of global installed offshore wind capacity is commissioned and operated in the North Sea and nearby Atlantic Ocean
- Overall, the global weighted average LCOE has decreased by 20% in the last decade
- Global offshore wind investment rose to USD 19.4 billion in 2018
- The largest turbine being developed by for off shore by General Electric is the 12 MW Haliade-X turbine with 107-metre-long blades
- Industry is also working on concepts for even larger turbines of 15 MW by 2030, and up to 20 MW turbines for offshore application can be expected by 2030
- Some 13 floating offshore wind projects have been announced globally, 9 in Europe
Given favourable developments in policy and infrastructure, Ireland can achieve deployment of between 11GW – 16GW of onshore wind and 30GW of offshore wind by 2050 delivering significant export opportunities.
SEAI