New Renewable Energy Deal On the Cards

Ministers from Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man have joined forces over a brand new renewable energy deal. Known as the ‘All Islands Approach’, the deal will see all four states working together to exploit the region’s wind and marine resources to their full potential.

The signing of the historic deal between Ireland and the UK government will potentially encourage and enable developers to exploit commercial opportunities for generation and transmission, facilitate the cost-effective exploitation of the renewable energy resources available, increase integration of our markets and improve security of supply.

The UK’s Minister of State for Energy, Charles Hendry said: “Optimising the natural renewable resource available around our islands would benefit us all. It makes much more sense to develop and share clean, green, secure energy with our neighbours than import vast amounts of fossil fuels from far flung parts of the world.”

Responding to the announcement, Irish Wind Energy Association chief executive Dr Michael Walsh believes in time the deal may be seen as a milestone moment for Ireland in terms of maximising the potential of the wind energy sector.

The Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) welcomed the ‘All Islands Approach’ to energy, which laid out a co-operation strategy rather than specific policy measures, saying it could help Ireland to create a €20bn (£18bn) industry with huge export potential.

“This is a hugely significant opportunity for Ireland as the construction of wind farms to supply power to neighbouring countries could help the UK advance its aims in its use of clean, renewable energy,” said Walsh.