Ireland's licensing terms for wind power are uncompetitive, according to a renewable energy company.
Speaking at the Gateway Status conference in Dundalk, Brian Britton, managing director of Oriel Windfarm said - "there are currently four offshore wind farms approved - or at an advanced stage of the process - in the Irish Sea, with the capacity to generate 2,000 megawatts (MW) or 40 per cent of Ireland's electricity needs. Commitment to developing these wind farms could see them in production within four years.
"With a competitive industrial promotion programme, they would bring with them hundreds of jobs in new industry - providing turbines, foundations, towers and fittings for the wind farms. Taking construction into account, thousands of jobs could be created at a time when jobs are being lost in the building sector."
Mr Britton said that the key factor holding back development of the sector is the lack of specific government policy on offshore wind.
To attract the capital to invest in the industry, the state needs to have an operating environment that is competitive with other EU states. At the moment, there are no incentives in place to attract investment in the area - he added - whereas, in countries - such as the UK, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands - appropriate regulatory regimes have attracted substantial investment.
Mr Britton called on the the Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, to address this issue as a matter of urgency, to enable the development of a power industry using indigenous resources.
"This is an opportune time for Ireland to enter this industry. Many of the technologies associated with it are still in development and Ireland could become a technological leader in this fast-growing area. These developments are making the issue of intermittency in wind power a thing of the past."
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