WAVE ENERGY will not develop significantly in Ireland “for at least a decade” due to investment difficulties and the “unproven nature” of the technology, according to an energy audit of Co Mayo.
The study by the Sustainability Institute, headed by former Green Party member Andy Wilson, says investors are “pulling out of renewable energy projects, blaming the global recession and world energy prices”.
It says biomass from forestry and biogas from waste and silage offer a more secure long-term alternative as fossil fuels deplete.
North Mayo has been selected as the location for the Government’s full-scale trials on wave energy, spearheaded by the Marine Institute and Sustainable Energy Ireland with private investors. Over a year ago, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan initiated a €26 million ocean energy programme, which is central to the Government’s aim to provide 40 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
However, former US ambassador to Ireland Thomas C Foley criticised the slow pace of development in wave energy here last year, warning that US investment would be lost.
Ireland’s natural advantage, due to latitude, weather, Atlantic location and current sources of fossil fuel-based electrical power, gave it an economic advantage, Mr Foley said.
The audit by Mr Wilson and fellow author Paul Lynch focused on Mayo as a county with wind and wave energy potential. As the third-largest county, it has the third-lowest population density.
The audit says ocean energy technology “will not contribute significantly to energy security in the short or even medium term” as investors are withdrawing and technology development is still at an early stage. It also says that a recession may “put paid to many proposed new wind projects”.
Although Mayo is the location for the planned processing of natural gas from the Corrib field, the benefits will be “minor” for the county. It says Mayo’s coniferous forestry resource is “potentially of major significance” in fuel terms, while good opportunities exist to produce biogas from renewable or waste sources.
It says that unless the cost of installation of solar energy equipment can be reduced, this sector will grow relatively slowly. Micro-wind production is constrained by the “poor quality of product available”, the report says.
The Irish Wind Energy Association has called for a national action plan to realise Government targets on renewable energy and to facilitate a €12 billion private investment initiative.
