Maritime Infrastructure Development Priorities to Support Ireland’s Future Ocean Energy Industry Discussion Paper December 2014 This study was supported by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) through the Renewable Energy Research Development & Demonstration Programme. SEAI is partly financed by Ireland’s EU Structural Funds Programme co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Union Preface The past year has seen a turnaround in the fortunes of ocean energy in the Republic of Ireland with the publication in February of the Government’s Ocean Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP). The new policy recognised that the growth of ocean energy would require investment in maritime infrastructure - ships and, in particular, port facilities. The OREDP followed the track laid down by three reports commissioned by Government since 2009 on the topic of maritime infrastructure and ocean energy (Scotland has had four reports on the same topic since 2010!). Put simply, the maritime infrastructure issue has three related strands. First, ocean energy still has a journey ahead of it to achieve technical maturity. Second, in Ireland’s case, any electricity generated from our bountiful west coast wave resource may need market opportunities, particularly in the export field, and these are not anticipated for some years to come. However, given that ocean energy becomes a reliable and (gradually) competitive source of electricity and that market opportunities are developed, then a major hurdle must be crossed: the actual capacity of Irish ports to support ocean energy. Ocean energy devices are large, ideally must be built (or at least assembled) close to deployment sites and will make significant demands on port facilities. Ireland’s wave energy resource is off the west coast. It should be possible to support the development of the resource, at least at the southern end of the west coast, from Shannon Foynes and Cork. Beyond a certain level of deployment, the much smaller ports to the north of County Clare would struggle to cope with developments off Mayo –the most likely ocean energy location in the north-west - in particular. This Paper analyses the issue, draws conclusions and make recommendations about a challenge which must be tackled if ocean energy is to develop at scale from around 2030 , a short time away in the notoriously long investment cycle times in energy and in maritime infrastructure. Summary of Recommendations The Marine Renewables Industry Association recommends, in summary, that: 1. The State should actively identify and monitor innovative solutions to the possible need for early extra port capacity arising from ocean energy development off the west coast. 2. The planned harbour developments at Doonbeg, County Clare should be supported to provide a Forward Operating Base for WestWave and other early projects. 3. The provision of suitable vessels to support ocean energy should be left to the private market place where capable local companies would welcome new business opportunities. However, the Irish Maritime Development Office should actively monitor the situation and communicate any specific needs (e.g. incentives) to the Ocean Renewable Energy Steering Group. 4. Steps should be taken as soon as possible to start planning at least minimum facilities to support ocean energy at a port location in Mayo. The Association is conscious of the need to avoid raising expectations and to avoid land speculation. It must be emphasised that this recommendation is made in a measured fashion and it is made only in light of the particularly long lead-time typically encountered in port developments. It represents a ‘hedge’ on future port needs. 5. A review of ports policy, perhaps specifically in regard to the marine renewables industry, should take place no later than 2020. At that stage, issues such as market access for marine renewables electricity, and the likely pace of development of wave energy technology, should be a great deal clearer than at present while offshore wind developments may be in prospect off the west coast. This review should be a ‘whole of Government’ exercise, possibly conducted under the auspices of the recently established Ocean Renewable Energy Steering Group. Contents 1. Marine Renewables Industry Association .............................................................. 1 2. Potential of Ocean Energy................................................................................................ 1 3. Background and Terms of Reference ........................................................................ 3 4. Policy Backdrop ...................................................................................................................... 5 5. Position and Outlook for Wave and Tidal Energy ............................................. 8 6. Ireland’s Ports ....................................................................................................................... 12 7. Recent Reviews of Irish Maritime Infrastructure ......................................... 144 8. Scottish Ocean Energy and Maritime Infrastructure .................................... 21 9. Strategic Issues Explored with Stakeholders ..................................................... 24 10. Views of Ports ..................................................................................................................... 25 11. Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................................... 32 Appendix 1: List of Bodies Interviewed ...................................................................... 40 Appendix 2: Stages of Development of an Ocean Energy Project……………41 1. Marine Renewables Industry Association The Marine Renewables Industry Association (MRIA) represents the principal interests on the island of Ireland engaged in the wave and tidal sector of marine renewables energy, also known as ocean energy1. The Association includes firms engaged in device development and manufacture, utilities and site developers, professional firms and consultants, R & D businesses and academic researchers. The Association is an all-island body. For further details, please go to the Association’s web page, www.mria.ie . You may follow MRIA on Twitter at @Marineireland. 2. Potential of Ocean Energy 2.1 POTENTIAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF OCEAN ENERGY The Republic of Ireland is recovering from a serious economic downturn which led to serious losses of jobs and income…and a similar situation applies in Northern Ireland. Ocean energy has the potential to make a significant employment and wealth creation impact over time. A study commissioned by the relevant State agencies on the island of Ireland (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland) on the potential economic impact of ocean energy2 states that: There is currently sound quantitative evidence that by 2030 a fully developed island of Ireland OE sector providing a home market and feeding a global market for Renewable Energy could produce a total Net Present Value (NPV) of around €9billion and many thousands of jobs ....It is possible that an island of Ireland wave energy industry ……. could produce …….17, 000-52,000 jobs and an NPV of around €4-10bn by 2030.....Similarly a tidal industry…… may deliver….. 8,500-17,000 jobs and an NPV of between 41.5-2.75bn by 2030 - SQW EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 Wave + tidal energy = ocean energy (+ offshore wind) = marine renewables or marine energy 2 Economic Study for Ocean Energy Development in Ireland SQW, 2010 1 The possibilities these forecasts represent are valid because, for example, in the view of Ocean Energy Europe3: ‘As a fledgling industry, the European ocean energy sector is making positive progress. Several European utilities and engineering giants from Europe, the US, Japan and Korea have all invested in SMEs, testing programmes and early project development in Europe. This clearly points to growing confidence in the viability of these technologies4.’ The opportunity in ocean energy in Ireland has at least two possible dimensions- ENTERPRISE and ELECTRICITY MARKETS. There may also be scope for local electricity supply in the medium/long terms (see also: MRIA’s Response to Public Consultation on draft Ocean Renewable Energy Development Plan at www.mria.ie) in Ireland. 2.2 ENTERPRISE The ENTERPRISE element ranges from research and development and device manufacture to operations and maintenance, finance and legal support. This ‘supply chain’ in Ireland has an immediate opportunity in wind-based energy, particularly offshore wind, in the UK which is now a major industry. The planned Inter-Governmental Agreement on energy between Ireland and the UK could have enhanced that opportunity quickly if it had not been aborted and some observers are convinced that the Agreement negotiations will be revived in time. Wind energy on land is facilitating companies in Ireland to grow their experience and their skills and will enable a number of them to capitalise on the future wave and tidal opportunity. 2.3 EXPORTING ELECTRICITY AND LOCAL MARKET OPPORTUNITIES All of the stakeholders in ocean energy accept that the enormous scale of the Irish wave resource (together with a much lesser resource in tidal in the Republic) represents a potentially huge opportunity for ELECTRICITY ‘EXPORT’ via grid interconnectors. This is based on the likely emergence of an EU energy market and a Euro grid; potential demand in southern England in particular; the development of ocean energy technology