Significant employment opportunities could arise if an inter-governmental agreement is entered into. Employment creation arising from a 3,000MW project would be expected to be in the order of 3,000 to 6,000 jobs in the construction phase, with the actual number dependent on the construction schedule to 2020. There would also be additional jobs created in the on-going maintenance of turbines over a 20-year operating life. Further employment opportunities could also arise in both countries from the manufacture of turbines, cables, and other technology.
“Ireland has the potential to generate far more wind energy than we could consume domestically,” said Irish minister for communications energy and natural resources Pat Rabbitte. “The opportunity to export this green power presents an opportunity for employment growth and export earnings which we must seize if we can. Today the two Governments are committing themselves to a programme of work.
“We will work closely with the UK government so we are in a position to move towards a formal agreement on energy trading.
“We will tease out the very complex engineering and market issues so that, subject to their successful resolution and a decision by UK and Irish Ministers to proceed, in a year’s time, we will be in a position to make an intergovernmental agreement providing a formal basis for energy trading.”
“Trading power with Ireland could increase the amount of green power in our energy mix and potentially bring down costs for UK consumers,” said UK secretary of state for energy and climate change Edward Davey.
The memorandum of understanding will trigger detailed analysis of how Irish renewable energy resources, onshore and offshore, might be developed to the mutual benefit of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The next stage would be to develop an inter-governmental agreement for signing in 2014. A tight timeline is essential if potential projects, which would be selected through an open competitive process, are to commence exporting wind energy from Ireland to the United Kingdom by 2020.
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