Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, TD (left); Des Farren, CEO, Servusnet Informatics Ltd; and Dr Brian Motherway, chief executive of SEAI
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is calling on businesses to avail of enterprise opportunities in Ireland’s sustainable-energy sector with their projected value of €2.5bn per annum by 2020.
The organisation has released its report, Ireland’s Sustainable Energy Supply Chain Opportunity, which was carried out with other enterprise agencies, including Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Forfás.
The report claims to be the first to examine in detail how well the Irish supply chain is positioned to capture new business arising from expected investment in energy-efficient and renewable energy products and services required to meet energy targets for 2020 set out by the European Union.
According to the report, Ireland is spending €1.5bn every year on sustainable-energy solutions, which supports an estimated 18,000 jobs, while most of the increased expenditure over the next six years, which can support up to 30,000 jobs, is expected to come from the manufacturing and construction sectors, where the capacity to upscale is readily available with a qualified workforce.
Speaking of the report, Dr Brian Motherway, chief executive of SEAI, said, “A co-ordinated approach to supporting sustainable energy supply chains will promote economic growth and create thousands of jobs in Ireland. For this reason, SEAI is working closely with the enterprise agencies to ensure Ireland can maximise the business opportunities available, as well as improving our energy security and cost competitiveness.”
