The Future Framework policy statement was also informed, among other things, by reports BVG Associates and AFRY provided to DECC, including studies of the market, interconnection, renewable hydrogen, export viability, and societal return.
Before the framework was released, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) carried out a national-scale assessment of the technical potential of offshore wind, wave, and tidal energy in Irish waters for the government’s Second Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP II). According to SEAI’s estimates, Ireland holds a gross technical resource capacity of 62 GW for fixed-bottom offshore wind and 579 GW for floating wind.
Ireland’s long-term plan for increasing its offshore renewable energy capacity is three-phased: Phase One, which awarded capacity in the first offshore wind auction (ORESS 1), Phase Two which will procure the additional offshore wind capacity required to meet the 2030 target, and the fully plan-led Future Framework that leads to 37 GW of offshore renewable energy capacity in 2050.