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Investigatesoffshore windJUST TWO IRISH companies hold a significant stake in the numerous offshore wind projects currently in the pipeline off the Irish coast.
ESB and Kerry-based wind energy developer Saorgus Energy are involved in two separate projects, but neither is the lead developer.
This means one of Ireland’s most lucrative natural resources is being sold to a range of foreign investors looking to make a profit.
The Journal Investigates analysed financial records to uncover the ultimate controlling parties behind the offshore wind projects.
Among the companies that hold a controlling interest in offshore wind projects are oil and gas companies as well as RWE, a German multinational energy company — one of Europe’s largest CO2 emitters over the last five years.
Greenpeace has labelled investments in offshore wind by fossil fuel companies as greenwashing, pointing to their continued high use of polluting fuels.
Norwegian and French state-owned companies are also investing in Ireland’s offshore wind, as are the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan fund, which previously owned the Irish National Lottery.
The Irish government has committed to achieving at least 5 GW (gigawatts) of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030. That equates to 5,000 MW (megawatts) and is a huge jump from the 25 MW currently installed at Ireland’s only offshore wind farm, located off Arklow.
This is part of its wider goal of reaching an 80% share of renewable electricity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030.
An offshore wind strategy, published by the Department of Enterprise, states that international and foreign investment is a “competitive necessity” in developing the offshore wind market and achieving the climate objectives.
Half of the six projects that are furthest along in development are backed by fossil fuel companies, according to an analysis by The Journal Investigates.
One of these is the Oriel Wind Park project, based off the coast of County Louth. Planning permission has been submitted by the developer for 25 turbines, with a maximum capacity of 375 MW.
The developers say that this project will be able to power 300,000 houses with renewable energy. That is more than all the houses in Co Cork.
The project is ultimately controlled by a partnership between Japan’s largest power generation company, JERA, and oil company, BP.
The ESB is listed as a partner for the project, but they do not hold a controlling share, according to the planning documents reviewed by The Journal Investigates.
Another offshore wind farm project that has ties to large polluters is the Dublin Array.
Located along the Dublin and Wicklow coasts this project is a 50:50 partnership between German multinational energy company RWE and Irish wind farm developer Saorgus Energy.
However, a spokesperson for RWE Renewables Ireland, the Irish arm of the company, told The Journal Investigates that the development is being led by RWE.
Alongside its renewable energy projects, RWE also operates coal and gas power plants across Europe, releasing vast amounts of CO2 emissions.
Planning permission has not yet been submitted for this project, but published proposals say that it will have between 39 and 50 wind turbines, generating a total project capacity of up to 824 MW.
A third project is backed by a partnership between French-state-owned energy company EDF and Bonheur ASA.
The latter is a Norwegian holding company controlled by Fred Olsen & Co, the private investment vehicle of Norwegian billionaire Anette S Olsen whose family originally made their money through shipping.
The Codling Wind Park, located off the Wicklow coast is the largest offshore wind farm that has submitted planning permission with 1,300 MW capacity.
This project alone represents a quarter of the government’s 2030 target for offshore wind.
As with BP and RWE, EDF is active in a range of power generation technologies, including fossil fuels.
Some argue that the involvement of these fossil fuel and energy companies amounts to greenwashing, pointing out that these renewable projects often feature prominently in marketing while the companies continue to emit vast amounts of CO2.
“I wouldn’t misinterpret these investments as a shift in the business model. Definitely not,” Lisa Göldner, the lead campaigner of Greenpeace’s European climate and energy campaign, told The Journal Investigates:
If you look at the advertisements of those companies, you usually see nice offshore wind parks. But the reality is really completely the opposite.
She added that these companies “are securing their shares in businesses that might only start in years or decades to come” and that given the percentage of renewable investments as part of their overall portfolio, in her mind they are “definitely greenwashing”.
A spokesperson for RWE Renewables Ireland told The Journal Investigates that “RWE is committed to the 1.5°C Science Based Targets initiative”. They said the company has set a target to “achieve net zero by 2040 and the phase out of its coal-fired power generation in Germany by 2030”.
They also added that the company was investing billions of euro in wind, solar and batteries “with a clear direction of travel for the future”.
A spokesperson for BP said that their joint venture with JERA is not yet complete and that it cannot comment on the project as a result. JERA referred to a statement from an Oriel project spokesperson that said:
“The Oriel project is well placed to contribute towards Ireland’s 2030 targets for offshore wind, renewable energy, and emissions reduction.” They also said that it plans to sell the electricity that will be generated into the Irish electricity market.
EDF also referred to a statement from the Codling Wind Park project which said: “EDF Renewables is one of Ireland’s leading renewable energy companies and is committed to working closely with the Government and local communities to help deliver 80% of Ireland’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030.”
Ireland’s offshore wind resources have also attracted large multinational investors in renewable energy.
The North Sea Array, a 700 MW wind farm located off the coast of Dublin, Meath and Louth, is backed by a joint venture between Statkraft and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a Danish investment firm that focuses on investments in green energy projects.
Statkraft is a hydropower company, fully owned by the Norwegian state. The company also invests in wind and solar, owning wind farms in Germany and France.
A spokesperson for the project said Statkraft teamed up with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners to “ensure the successful delivery of a project of this scale”, adding that it would “deliver significant investment to local communities”.
Dr Rory Monaghan, a lecturer of mechanical engineering at the University of Galway, said that part of the reason why these projects are backed by large multinational energy companies is because many of them have the expertise required to construct these projects.
“They would all have experience of building offshore wind farms in the North Sea,” he added, saying that Ireland’s port infrastructure also isn’t suitable for offshore wind turbine assembly and that many of these companies would already have existing supply chains through UK ports.
According to a 2022 report by industry lobby group Wind Energy Ireland, Belfast is currently the only port on the island of Ireland that is fully equipped to construct offshore wind farms.
By 2030, the Port of Cork hopes to also support offshore wind farm construction, following recent investment.
The majority of the projects currently in the pipeline are situated along the east coast, particularly along the Wicklow and Dublin coastline. Just one project, Sceirde Rocks, is based on the west coast.
This, Dr Monaghan explains, is due to the rough sea conditions and deeper water that present additional engineering challenges for projects on the west.
The Sceirde Rocks project, he said, is a unique case as it is partly sheltered by Galway Bay and there are shallower waters around that part of the coast.
This project is backed by a joint venture between offshore developer Corio Generation, which is owned by an Australian investment bank, and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
The latter may be familiar to Irish readers, having previously owned the company behind the National Lottery, before selling it to French lottery operator Française des Jeux in 2023.
A spokesperson for Corio Generation confirmed ownership of the project, while a spokesperson for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan declined to comment.
The last of the six proposed offshore wind farms is on the Arklow Bank, off Co Wicklow. This is the second phase of offshore wind farms in this location.
It consists of 56 wind turbines generating 800 MW of electricity and is being developed by Scottish energy company SSE plc.
The current Arklow Bank wind farm in operation (phase one) which has seven wind turbines and a total of 25 MW capacity is to be decommissioned. The operator, Arklow Energy Limited which is owned by GE Vernova, submitted proposals about the decommissioning to An Bord Pleanála last month.
A spokesperson told us it has “reached the end of its operating life” and that they “will work with local officials to complete the decommissioning process in a safe, timely, and responsible manner”.
It may be some time before wind turbines begin to appear on our coastal skyline.
A number of the developments are experiencing planning delays. Of the five projects that have submitted planning applications to An Bord Pleanála, three decisions are overdue since December.
Industry lobby group, Wind Energy Ireland, said that quick but robust decisions are needed on these projects if Ireland is going to hit its 2030 climate targets.
“We cannot afford to have projects spending years in the planning system while families are struggling with their bills and we are spending millions importing fossil fuels,” Justin Moran, Director of External Affairs with Wind Energy Ireland, told The Journal Investigates.
He added that while the additional funding provided to An Bord Pleanála to deal with these project applications was welcome, “more is necessary to provide the people and the expertise our planning system needs”.
A spokesperson for An Bord Pleanála did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.
Reporter: Conor O’Carroll • Editors: Maria Delaney & Susan Daly • Main Image Design: Lorcan O’Reilly
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The public are ahead of government in all aspects of society? Daily we live through the problems, staring at them for generations, they seem oblivious.
Yet another example where capitalism fails miserably to better our society.
Public services should never be privitised or be for profit. It just doesn’t work. Capitalism works great when making iPhones, but is awful when making an effective public service.
@Caoimhin O’Connor: IPhones are made in China who are communist
@Caoimhin O’Connor: privatisation has worked well for this country, as promised we have excellent water and electrical infrastructure and lower priced electricity, a waste management service that’s vastly improved, a private health service that out performs the public one. Imagine these were once included in your taxes and actually worked well. Now your taxes remain the same but now we pay for these services on top, if like health care you can afford it.
@Spanner: privitisation has not worked well in anything you’ve stated
thankfully to the water protesters water has not been privitised.
we have the highest electricity costs in Europe (& the people who had supply out for 3 weeks would disagree it’s a great infrastructure) so that’s completely wrong.
We have terrible waste management services – why don’t you walk Dublin,cork or Limerick inner city and see what privitisation has done for litter and rural areas for fly tipping. It was way cleaner when the councils took charge of waste.
@Caoimhin O’Connor: Capitalism is the most moral and most successful economic system ever because it allocates the resources effectively to those who deserve it the most. In a free market, no one can demand that you work for them, provide them with goods, or surrender your wealth. Every interaction, whether employment, trade or charity, is voluntary. The failures of childcare in this country come from Socialist intervention from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Price controls, heavy regulation, and subsidies distort the market, making childcare more expensive, less available and lower in quality. That’s just basic economics, you’d do well to realise that. Every failure in Ireland can’t be directly linked back to leftist economics. Public service should be the job of the government to begin with.
@William Jennings: Shouldn’t be the job of government to begin with. The only role of government should be to provide a court system, a police and fire service and a standing army for national defence. Everything else should be left to the private sector to handle.
@Joe Willis: Yes, but the profit goes to Cupertino. Apple use China as a low cost manufacturing facility. They don’t make iPhones in the US because it costs too much and shareholders returns would be diminished. Capitalism will always move to where manufacturing costs are lowest so to make higher profits.
No mention on how much taxpayer money will be needed to implement these recommendations. Of course parents want better services for their children at a cheaper price than they are currently paying, however someone will need to pay so lets get some figures on what this will cost and then see what taxes need to increase to pay for it all.
@The next small thing: we have €15bn in a rainy day fund.
If parents didn’t have to spend a second mortgage on creche fees they could spend more in the local economy.
We badly need to increase the birth rate
@Frances Byrne,
Creches are not places of education, they are early learning centers.
Children in creches don’t have to do exams.
Some creches are just dumping grounds for children of lazy parents who can’t be bothered to look after their own children.
@Thomas O’Brien: Since when is learning not education?. My children went to a pre school crèche and there they learned the alphabet and how to count, and read a little. So clearly there is education happening at some of them at least.
@Thomas O’Brien: they are staffed with graduates of early childhood education degrees. Children in primary school don’t have to do exams either, they are still places of education.
@Ger Whelan:
Did they pass all their exams.
@Jane Gunnigan:
They are not staffed with graduates.
They are staffed by child care assistants.
Primary school children get this thing called homework which is a form of exam.
@Thomas O’Brien: or alternately, have to work to feed and clothe them, and also pay for the creche.
@Thomas O’Brien: my niece is a first class honours graduate of the early childhood education degree from DCU. It is a full-time 4 year, level 8 degree. She works in a creche, and most of her colleagues hold the same qualification.
The type of homework given to children in junior and senior infants in primary school is no way comparable to an exam.
@Jane Gunnigan:
No wonder child care is so expensive, with all the college degrees the child care assistants have. Speaking of homework, when the homework is not done the children are told off and get stressed out, just like doing exams.
@Setanta O’Toole:
Not all parents who work, send their children to creches.
@Thomas O’Brien: five year olds are told off and stressed out? Seriously? I’d be having a word with the teacher…
@Thomas O’Brien: pawn them off to a childminder or the grandparents so. How is that any less ‘lazy’ then sending them to a creche?
@Thomas O’Brien: what school are you in that are doing that? My son is in senior infants. Not once has he been given out to for not having homework done. The school even gave us the guideline of homework only taking 15 mins in junior & 20 mins in senior infants. If it’s going on longer, & the child isn’t engaged, the advice from the school is to leave it. And that’s not just for the infant years, they have an approx time and same approach for all years in the primary school. Oh & the minimum by law that someone in a childcare setting has to have is a Level 5 certificate in Early Learning & Care. Minimum if they’re in an ECCE room (which has a set curriculum btw) is a Level 6. That’s just the min. Most places will want people who have higher.
@Susan Walsh:
I finished school a long time ago.
So your son doesn’t do his homework.
A level 5 or level 6 certificate is not a degree in child care.
@Setanta O’Toole:
So the child care assistants are not childminders then. The grandparents are family. I have seen children being dumped at creches and collected whenever the parents are ready and the childminder/carer has to stay there after their shifts until they turn up.
@Jane Gunnigan:
I think you should.
@Thomas O’Brien: you now what i meant pedantic Tom. Someone they pay privately to mind their child only. I’ve seen far more parents take advantage of their own parents then Creche workers, and the majority of them grandparents aren’t getting paid for it either. You haven’t explained how one is somehow ‘lazier’ than the other either.
@Setanta O’Toole:
Both are lazy.
Why do the work when you can get someone to do it for you.
@Thomas O’Brien: I meant that as what school are your children in that you are hearing that from? And where did I say my son didn’t do his homework? I said the school has told us that homework is not essential to their development and if it’s not working that day, to leave it as all forcing them to do it at 5/6 years old will do is cause problems. My son actually enjoys his homework & I think in 2 years there’s been maybe 4 times in total it hasn’t been done. No I didn’t say it was a degree – I said they were the minimum legally. Whereas most places will want more than the minimum needed. Or will encourage their staff to upskill. Personally I would like the people looking after my child to be well qualified.
@Susan Walsh:
I am hearing it from the people who work in the creches. Some parents just leave their children at the creche and go back home to bed. Not all parents work and some of the ones that do have no time for their children, leaving them at the creche until they are good and ready to collect them.
@Thomas O’Brien: Em I said nothing about that at all. I mean it’s nothing to do with me what people are doing if they’re putting their children into childcare. And some might be – but you don’t know if they’re shift workers or what. And then there is ECCE which is for every child for 3 hours a day. I doubt there’s many just leaving them in for a full day when they’re not working considering the massive cost. It’s literally a second mortgage to have a child in full time childcare so I don’t know anyone who is affording that while not doing anything. Oh & my point was more about where you were trying to claim homework was like exams even for primary school children. Which it is not.
@Susan Walsh:
Have you seen some of the homework some children get, it’s like another few hours in class.
@Thomas O’Brien: yes I have. Not only from my child but also nieces & nephews. None that I’ve seen in *primary school* are getting masses of homework that would take hours. Also you ignored the other part about how people are affording the second mortgage cost of childcare if all they’re doing is going home to sleep? You’re very able to pick & choose what bits to reply to that suit yourself.
There are virtually no creche places available in Dublin. It’s an emergency. What is the Minister for Children doing about it?!!
@Pat Redmond: private business.
@Panti Bliss: if the children are in creche, parents are paying for their place, therefore also paying taxes. So not ‘useless’
@Pat Redmond: give them credit they talk about it a fair bit so as mehole would say they stand in solidarity with transparency that’s about the size of it.
Married mothers should be given a Married Mother Allowance.
@thomas molloy: Married fathers should be given a married fathers allowance.
@Willie Marty: Hell, why not throw in a Grandparents allowance while we are at it !
@Willie Marty: Why? Because they do the same level of parenting as mothers! Pigs flying low over ireland…..I await the bullets.
@Clare Power: All mothers do the serious heavy lifting in most cases, it’s a reality.
Everyone wants free stuff but no one wants to pay for it. It’s left-wing government intervention from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil that has caused the childcare shortage here in Ireland. Instead of allowing competition to bring prices down naturally, the price controls reduce incentives to open new childcare facilities, leading to shortages. It forces providers to cut services to meet artificial price limits. This creates waiting lists, making it harder for parents to find childcare at all. Instead of helping families, subsidies drive costs up by artificially increasing demand. Parents can “afford” to pay more because the government covers some costs. Childcare providers raise prices to capture the subsidy money. The result? Prices keep rising, making childcare even more unaffordable.
@William Jennings: Well, I suppose if you reduce childcare to the equivalent of a sandwich making enterprise, then market forces should prevail. Consumers can choose the cheap ALDI or the expensive M&S type. Similarly with wages, if you’re going to insist that the staff are professionally qualified you’re going to pay more, or you can avail of the services of a non-qualified childminder. So, the choice is between the no market interference by public authorities option or a regulated service that looks after children’s best interests. Children are not sandwiches.
It’s basically common sense coming from a bunch of fools
have your say