The domestic and export market for large scale wave energy in Ireland and the economics of export transmission

Ireland is on track to meet its 2020 renewable energy targets with over 2 GW of onshore wind installed in the all island market as of 2013, and a multiple of this capacity in various stages of planning and development. It is currently unclear how much of this potential capacity will ultimately be installed but it has become clear that the wind industry in Ireland will change focus to export opportunities post 2020. This presents some interesting challenges for wave energy in Ireland. There is some early activity in the installation of wave farms off the west coast of Ireland and it is evident that the potential resource is extremely large. This wave resource is concentrated on the west coast of Ireland, remote of domestic load centres and export markets. To fully exploit this resource the wave energy industry may ultimately depend on the export market opportunity due to limited domestic demand. This paper examines the domestic potential for wave energy penetration and the benefits this may bring. It is concluded that there is a potential domestic market for wave energy in Ireland with the right conditions, although this market may be limited. Ultimately it is concluded that large scale wave energy may require a transmission route to an export market and this will be challenging and expensive, requiring the use of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission technology.