The management of Ireland’s Rosslare Europort has announced plans to transform the port into Ireland’s Offshore Renewable Energy Hub, with an investment into realising the project estimated at EUR 200 million.
The plan involves establishing the port, its hinterland, and the south-east region as an Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Hub, which could create up to 2,000 jobs.
According to Rosslare Europort, the port is ideally positioned to serve the many offshore wind developments planned in the Irish and Celtic seas, the majority of which are located within 100 nautical miles of Rosslare.
Works required to establish the port as a hub supporting offshore wind projects include building a purpose-built quay and berth, quayside storage and pre-construction area, and dredging a navigable channel to a minimum of 9 metres of depth.
The project will also include building a Management Control Centre and management offices and facilities.
These works would be in addition to those already outlined in the Rosslare Europort Infrastructure Masterplan which is set to transform the physical infrastructure of the port.
Rosslare Europort has already started working on becoming Ireland’s ORE hub and has appointed expert consultants to bring the project to planning as well as financial consultants who will develop the detailed business case and funding options.
An application was also submitted to the EU Connecting Europe Facility for 50 per cent co-funding for the studies and designs for planning.
Rosslare Europort said it was actively engaging with all the potential developers that will be involved in offshore wind and that it had undertaken comprehensive surveys and engagements with them to understand the industry requirements and gain support for the Rosslare project.
Discussions have also taken place regarding a potential start up facility that could be available from late 2023 at Fisherman’s Quay in the port on a limited basis, which would offer the industry some port capacity while the transition to the main facility is completed.