ESB WestWave is key to Irish renewable energy, says Brendan Barry (video)

18 Jul 2014

Brendan Barry, ESB's manager for emerging energy technologies

The ESB WestWave wave-energy project off the coast of Co Clare is aiming to be one of the largest renewable energy producers in the country, according to the ESB’s Brendan Barry.

With construction due to start in 2016, the ESB WestWave project is one of the most ambitious energy projects of its kind in the history of the State and will aim to take full advantage of the west coast’s abundant supply of renewable energy in the form of wave power.

Just recently, the project led by the ESB received a grant of €23m from the European Union (EU) as part of its NER300 scheme to allow it to develop the project further, with the plan to produce the equivalent of 5MW of clean energy. The plant is due to begin operations in 2018 and expand as time goes on.

Speaking to Siliconrepublic.com, the ESB’s manager for emerging energy technologies, Brendan Barry, described how with the help of a number of parties, Ireland is on the path to having another significant source of renewable energy for the national grid to hit its Europe 2020 clean-energy targets.

ESB is a sponsor of our Innovation channel on Silicon Republic.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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