A fund backed by Ireland’s sovereign development fund is funding a new Irish renewable energy firm which plans to develop at least 1GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

The newly launched company Inis Offshore Wind, is funded through the Temporis Aurora Fund, by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and other institutional investors from the EU, UK and US totalling €126m.

ISIF has a €50m investment in the Temporis Aurora Fund.

Temporis Investment Management said Inis Offshore Wind has identified five potential project sites for assessment of the East and West Coasts of Ireland as well as in the Celtic Sea.

Should the initial East Coast projects progress successfully, these could each bring about 500MW of renewable capacity into production by 2030, Temporis said. The initial projects would enable €2-3bn of capital investment.

Former Ørsted executive Vanessa O’Connell to head up Inis Offshore Wind.

Austin Coughlan, the head of the Temporis Aurora Fund, said: “We are delighted to announce the establishment of Inis Offshore Wind and the appointment of Vanessa O’Connell as head of Inis Offshore Wind.

“The company has ambitious plans for the Irish offshore wind sector, firmly aligned with the government’s climate action plan. We very much value ISIF’s continuing support, providing the people of Ireland with a potential return from the sustainable use of the nation’s wind resources.”

O’Connell said: “With a current pipeline of five potential projects, we look forward to announcing more detail on our plans in due course and will work very closely with local communities, including marine users, to ensure their views are reflected in our plans and so that we maximise the positive impact our work has on local communities.”

Paul Saunders, senior investment director, ISIF said the launch of Inis Offshore Wind is a milestone in the development of Ireland’s offshore wind market.

“We feel ISIF’s involvement will act as a significant catalyst to attract international private sector investment into Ireland, in line with our ‘double bottom line’ mandate to generate a commercial return and support economic activity and employment in Ireland.”

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