{"id":466123,"date":"2026-05-25T11:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/466123\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T11:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:52:10","slug":"south-west-could-lead-irelands-renewable-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/466123\/","title":{"rendered":"South West could lead Ireland&#8217;s renewable development"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new report by KPMG Ireland indicates that the South West of the country is &#8220;uniquely positioned for economic growth&#8221; and could achieve low-carbon status by 2040.<\/p>\n<p>In its latest publication called &#8220;KPMG South West 2040&#8221;, the consultancy firm said that the region has &#8220;significant advantages&#8221; like a strong industrial base, leading education and research institutions, and its role in Ireland&#8217;s energy generation.<\/p>\n<p>Ireland&#8217;s South West has a population of over 740,000, contributing more than 20% of national GDP.<\/p>\n<p>Cork supplies over 25% of national energy demand and is home to roughly 20% of Ireland\u2019s installed electricity generation capacity, centered on the Whitegate oil refinery and the Aghada and Whitegate gas-fired power stations.<\/p>\n<p>Co Kerry accounts for around 13% of national wind generation, KPMG noted.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The evidence is clear that the South West is primed to lead Ireland\u2019s renewable energy generation development,&#8221; said KPMG partner Barrie O&#8217;Connell.<\/p>\n<p>He called for &#8220;unlocking this potential&#8221; further.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The availability of 388 hectares of zoned Special Policy Area in the Cork Harbour Whitegate area can enable delivery of major energy-related developments.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In its report, KMPG recommended accelerated delivery of infrastructure projects like the Luas Cork and develop a coordinated transition roadmap for Cork Docklands.<\/p>\n<p>However, consultants warned that no major infrastructure project should proceed without &#8220;a robust assessment of climate risk&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>With the South West being one of Ireland&#8217;s most exposed regions to climate change impacts due to its Atlantic exposure and low lying coastal towns, the region needs &#8220;appropriate protection measures.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new report by KPMG Ireland indicates that the South West of the country is &#8220;uniquely positioned for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-466123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}