Green Limerick: ‘Mid-West should be the envy of Europe’

THE CLAYTON hotel was electric with the positive energy from industry experts, local politicians and those with an interest in green energy all looking to learn more about the potential the Shannon Estuary can provide for cleaner energy investments.

With each passing day, the climate crisis becomes more and more of an issue and a priority and there is no time like to present to rethink the way we harvest energy.

Limerick Chamber President Donal Cantillon addressed those in attendance, it was his last formal event as president of the chamber.

Mr Cantillon mentioned that about 18 months ago Limerick Chamber began discussing offshore renewable energy potential in the Mid-West region.

“The aim of this morning is not to bombard you with facts and figures about the opportunity… What we want to try and do as a business community is to discuss what pathways can we take and to make the opportunity a reality,” Mr Cantillon said.

Pat Keating of the Shannon Foynes Port Company spoke to the crowd about the potential the Shannon Estuary has regarding the harvesting of wind kinetic energy and more specifically the use of floating turbines within a 36-hour tow time off the coast which could generate 70 gigawatts (GW) of power, 30 times Ireland’s current rate.

Mr Keating spoke about the Shannon Foynes Port Company’s Vision 2041 Strategic Plan which seeks to deliver floating offshore wind (FLOW) at a large scale, the production and transition to e-fuels and introduce more sustainable logistics services.

FLOW involves installing floating wind turbines into deep sea-sheltered water, something the Shannon Estuary has 500 sq km of and according to Mr Keating this is a huge opportunity that should be taken advantage of.

Deep sea water needs to be more than 15 metres deep to sustain FLOW.

“For example, Cork harbour, a large harbour but it’s quite shallow. The Shannon Estuary has an abundance of deep sea water,” Mr Keating said.

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Head of offshore wind generation, Ireland for the ESB Ciaran McManus spoke about developing green energy at Moneypoint power station in Clare.

Moneypoint was first developed in the 1980s following oil shortages in the 1970s. It was a powerhouse for the entire country but today only distributes about 20% of the national power.

Mr McManus spoke about transitioning away from the use of coal at Moneypoint and the development of a reliable, affordable and net zero energy scheme called Green Atlantic at the power station.

The ESB has already completed the first stage in transforming Moneypoint into a green energy hub.

In the final quarter of 2022, they constructed a €50 million synchronous compensator.

This technology enables higher volumes of renewables on the system and provide a range of electrical services to the electricity grid which would previously have been supplied by the fossil fuel-fired generation.

The next step for the ESB is the construction of an off shore wind farm developed off the coast of Clare and Kerry.

Once complete, the wind farm will be capable of powering more than 1.6m homes in Ireland. Subject to the appropriate consents being granted, the wind farm is expected to be in production within the next decade.

Much like Mr Keating, Mr McManus urged those in attendance at the event held in the Clayton Hotel on Steamboat Quay not to “miss the boat on this massive opportunity” that lies within the Shannon Estuary.

He believes Ireland and the Shannon Estuary has the potential to really kick start the FLOW energy sector which is not really seen throughout the world and if this opportunity is not harvested other countries will snoop in.

“We missed the boat on solar energy let’s not do the same with this,” he said.

Mr McManus mentioned that the clean energy that can be harvested from FLOW could be enough to sustain the country for the next 20 to 40 years.

For more information on FLOW, head to the Shannon Foynes Port Company’s website.

For more Green news, follow the EcoLive section of our website LimerickLive.ie.