Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to be here today to address this important conference on ocean and wind technologies.
We in Ireland are delighted to host this important event and I welcome all of the expert participants from Member States as well as our own Irish experts in research and development and renewable energy technology sectors.
This event comes at a pivotal time in terms of European energy policy. In January, the Commission published its Energy Action Plan, which sets out an ambitious and cohesive roadmap for the energy policy development.
The Plan aims to place energy centre stage in addressing the key European challenges of climate change, employment and competitiveness.
Renewable energy is a central part of the Action Plan, which will be considered at the Spring European Council next week. The Commission proposes to maintain the EU's position as a world leader in renewable energy, by proposing a binding target of 20% of its overall energy mix will be sourced from renewable energy by 2020. This will require a massive growth in all three renewable energy sectors – electricity, transport and heating and cooling.
Ireland fully endorses the Commission’s ambitious plans. Climate change, the volatility of oil and gas markets and changing economic conditions demand a strong and focussed EU energy policy, which is translated into concrete actions at Member State level.
In drawing up the energy Action Plan, the Commission aims to make Europe a world leader in renewable energy. This is a goal, which we can embrace with confidence, but it will require significant effort by all Member States working together.
Today’s Conference is an example of how we can achieve these objectives, through mutual cooperation and collaboration on key research areas.
I am interested to note that the conference is focussed on ocean and wind technologies. While at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their development, these two technologies represent some of the most promising renewable energy developments in Europe and worldwide.
In Ireland we are progressing apace with several initiatives designed to increase renewable energy market penetration and broaden the range of renewable technologies across the electricity, transport and heating sectors.
In electricity generation, the support programmes put in place by this Government have more than doubled the combined generation capacity of renewable energy connected to the electricity network, in the last three years. The capital investment in wind-powered plants over the last decade in Ireland was in the region of €750 million. In the next two years we will virtually double that investment such is the pace of growth.
Ireland currently has over one Gigawatt of renewable powered electricity capacity connected to the national grid. This consists of approximately 774MW of wind-powered plant, 236MW of hydro powered plant with the balance made up of different biomass technologies. In 2006, we moved to a feed-in-tariff system for renewable electricity.
The success of this and previous support programmes has led me to increase Ireland’s EU target from 13.2% to a national target of 15% by 2010. I am confident that Ireland will not only achieve the EU target but will surpass it to deliver the more demanding 15% target for 2010. Wind energy will remain the dominant technology in delivering this target and will continue to have a significant contribution thereafter.
The Green Paper entitled “Towards a Sustainable Energy Future for Ireland” which I published on 1st October last year proposes an indicative target for Ireland of 30% of gross electricity consumption from renewable energy sources by 2020. While wind energy will predominate in the 2010 mix of renewables, the 2020 target is likely to be met from a more mixed variety of renewable energies.
Greater diversification will be required with increasing contributions from dispatchable technologies such as biomass and ocean energy. It is for this reason Ireland places considerable importance on the development of ocean energy technologies.
Ocean energy offers exciting new possibilities for renewable energy. Conference participants are no doubt aware of Ireland’s pioneering work in developing ocean technologies. In terms of prototype developments there are three wave energy developers in Ireland and a number of commercial groups who are exploring the opportunities to exploit tidal streams.
In support of these initiatives, last year, I launched a four-phase ocean energy strategy for Ireland. This strategy is already being implemented. In the initial phases we are supporting research and development of scale model wave energy prototypes at a test-bed site off the Galway coast.
I understand that a number of you plan to visit the site tomorrow, where you will see a number of devices currently being tested.
As a result of this strategy, Ireland has already amassed a body of knowledge around the process of ocean energy generation. A wave mapping scheme and national seabed survey, which were conducted by our national Marine Institute, have contributed vital information into the research planning process.
Ireland also has significant third level research expertise in ocean energy, including turbine design, wave tank model testing and wave energy modelling.
The next phase of our ocean energy strategy will be to install pre-commercial grid-connected devices for real time testing of devices. This phase will be initiated next year when it is expected that the tests at the Galway site have been completed.
If these grid-connected devices are successful we can move to the testing of an array of devices, with a view to bringing ocean energy on-stream in Ireland.
I believe that Ireland’s ambitious ocean energy strategy will yield demonstrative benefits into the future. Ireland has one of the world’s most favourable ocean energy climates, and our aim is to position Ireland in Europe, at the forefront of global ocean energy development.
The FP7 programme provides a valuable funding and collaborative tool for researchers and developers. The programme brings all research-related EU initiatives together under one roof, so as to maximise the contribution of such initiatives to the shared goals of growth, competitiveness and employment.
In Ireland, we have undertaken a similar initiative, through the establishment of an Energy Research Council, which will co-ordinate energy research priorities across the spectrum of relevant agencies and institutions.
The overall objective of energy research under FP7 is to adapt the current energy system into a more sustainable, competitive and secure one. This objective mirrors national and wider-EU objectives and is a welcome initiative. I note that the new programme is providing funding of over €2 billion for energy research, which includes funding specifically for renewable electricity research.
Today’s conference is an important milestone in fostering critical relationships between developers, researchers and agencies across Europe. It is of particular relevance to us here in Ireland, as we place increasing emphasis on research and development of new energy technologies and processes.
I am delighted that Ireland is hosting this important event today, which will provide a forum for information exchange, and understanding of research funding opportunities within the FP7 programme.
I welcome all of our guests to Ireland and hope that the Conference and your visit to our ocean energy test site will be informative and enjoyable. I wish you well with the proceedings.
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