Government’s offshore strategy puts end to energy project for Whiddy site

THE lack of a government strategy for offshore wind development has led to the collapse of a major development that had the potential to rejuvenate Whiddy Island.

In July 2021, Canadian company Zenith Energy and EI-H2, run by Cork man Pearse Flynn announced massive plans for a joint venture to develop a 3.2 gigawatt (GW) green energy facility which, when fully operational by 2028, they said had the potential to reduce Irish carbon emissions by 2.4m tonnes per year.

Whiddy Island was strategically chosen as the location for a facility of this scale given its proximity to some of the most productive off-shore locations for wind-generated electricity.

The developers said the construction phase could provide hundreds of jobs in the area, and at the time the plan was welcomed as having the potential to boost the island economy and the economy of all of West Cork.

However, in September 2022, The Southern Star reported that according to EI-H2, the hydrogen project was still only at the feasibility stage, and no firm decision has been made as yet as to whether it will actually go ahead on Whiddy.

A spokesperson for EI-H2 said: ‘The feasibility study into the development of a hydrogen production facility in Bantry Bay is continuing.’

Last week it was announced that Zenith Energy has completed the sale of the Whiddy Oil Terminal to Dallas company Sunoco in a deal worth €170m that includes the acquisition of an oil terminal in Amsterdam.

It’s now understood that the green energy plan for the island has been completely scrapped, almost three years after it was announced.

A source close to the project said to blame was ‘the change of the government strategy in offshore wind development’. ‘A government decision was made to concentrate development in areas other than the south west coast means the project isn’t going ahead,’ he said.