{"id":567925,"date":"2026-07-25T19:02:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T19:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/567925\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T19:02:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T19:02:23","slug":"permission-for-more-offshore-windfarms-expected-in-short-term-says-obrien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/567925\/","title":{"rendered":"Permission for more offshore windfarms expected in \u2018short term\u2019, says O&#8217;Brien"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A planning decision to build more offshore wind farms in Ireland is expected in \u201cthe short term\u201d, the Minister of the Environment Darragh O&#8217;Brien has said.<\/p>\n<p>Ireland currently has only one operational offshore wind farm, off the Co Wicklow coast, which opened in 2005.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at a press conference after a meeting of EU environment and climate ministers at Dublin Castle, O\u2019Brien said Ireland \u201cneeds\u201d to get more built.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/x.com\/DarraghOBrienTD\/status\/2080582653196017727?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p>\n<p>Ireland has a target to increase the share of electricity generated from renewable sources up to 80% in 2030; under the plan, five gigawatts must be connected to the grid by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Brien said the original plan was that offshore wind would be electrified by that date, but said when he took over his department 18 months ago he was \u201cvery honest with people\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cThey\u2019re still in the planning process, and effectively, we\u2019d expect some decisions on those in the short term.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy focus will be on getting them into construction, because that will be a game changer for our people, for our businesses, for energy security, and indeed for affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Defending Ireland\u2019s record on renewable energy, O\u2019Brien said Ireland is \u201cthe number one country in the European Union with integration of renewables into our grid\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Onshore wind capacity has doubled in the last decade, he said, and the country has gone from generating two megawatts of solar power in 2015 to three gigawatts, or 3,000 megawatts of power, this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is, I think, by any stretch or any fair assessment, a very significant upgrade in renewables,\u201d O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n<p>He was speaking alongside Jessika Roswall, who is the Swedish commissioner responsible for the environment.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/x.com\/DarraghOBrienTD\/status\/2080392076546416754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"not-prose no-underline\" data-action=\"click\" data-category=\"Read more article clicked\" data-label=\"https:\/\/www.breakingnews.ie\/ireland\/metrolink-among-first-nine-projects-designated-critical-infrastructure-1931434.html\" data-value=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breakingnews.ie\/ireland\/metrolink-among-first-nine-projects-designated-critical-infrastructure-1931434.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-84298450.jpg\" class=\"rounded-sm object-contain bg-transparent z-10 w-full h-full not-prose\" alt=\"Metrolink Among First Nine Projects Designated Critical Infrastructure\" width=\"278\" height=\"156\" \/><\/p>\n<p>        Ireland<\/p>\n<p>MetroLink among first nine projects designated critical infrastructure<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>She and the other EU environment and climate ministers were in Dublin for two days of meetings which she described as \u201cconstructive and also, if I may say, also fun and very pleasant\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Along with meetings, they were given a presentation by former president Mary Robinson and also taken on trips to Dublin\u2019s Waste to Energy plant and the new greenway in Dublin Port.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A planning decision to build more offshore wind farms in Ireland is expected in \u201cthe short term\u201d, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-567925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567925","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=567925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}