Wave energy could provide double our electricity needs but the sector requires long-term support, funding and policy measures, write Carrie Anne Barry and Hafiz Ahsan Said of the Centre for Ocean Energy Research (COER) and Prof John Ringwood, Professor of Electronic Engineering and Director of COER.

    Ireland will fall far short of its 2030 climate targets, achieving a 29% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions rather than the 51% goal. Ireland's Climate Action Plan sets out a framework hopefully leading to 80% of electricity coming from renewable sources, through a mix of onshore wind, offshore wind and solar.
     
    But the problem lies in the amount of electricity produced versus the timing of electricity production. Wind and solar energy are weather dependent, meaning that we need a back-up on those days when the wind doesn't blow. For example, on the week of 22nd December 2022, Ireland experienced a cold snap -- a period of high pressure and low winds. With 5GW of installed wind turbines, we were able to generate just 0.11GW, or 2% of our electricity needs.

    To address this, the Government launched the National Hydrogen Strategy. The idea is to store excess offshore wind energy by converting it to electricity, which is subsequently converted to hydrogen, which can be used directly as fuel, or converted back to electricity for consumers. This is costly and inefficient, with around 70% of energy lost during the electricity-hydrogen-electricity process, suggesting that hydrogen might be better deployed in industry or transport, than in supporting electricity supply.

    However, there is a possible solution and it's staring us in the face all around the country. Ireland boasts one of the richest wave resources on the planet. Indeed, the Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan identified that we have enough wave energy to provide double Ireland’s electricity needs.

    Wave energy off the west coast is generated by wind in the mid-Atlantic, so does not depend on local coastal wind, providing energy when local wind conditions are calm. Additionally, wave energy exhibits seasonal complementarity to electricity consumption, with the highest amount of wave energy available at times of highest demand, namely during the winter. Coastal dwellers will be happy to hear that most wave energy devices are invisible from the shore.

    But wave energy has not yet reached commercial viability. Yes, it is expensive, but new technologies typically are and costs decrease as more devices are deployed. There is also a lack of common infrastructure design, with devices varying dramatically from 2m tall buoys, to 2 storey-high cubes.

    Wave energy technology developers in Ireland have struggled to get their designs tested at full-scale at sea, which is off-putting for investors. This is due to a slow planning process, which can potentially last up to 10 years. Test facilities in Ireland for full-scale devices have been closed for a number of recent years, due to planning objections, although there is hope that this will be addressed by Ireland's new Maritime Area Regulatory Authority.

    Ireland has an opportunity to become a world leader in wave energy technology development, but what would it take to get wave energy to commercial viability? Denmark’s success with wind energy technology from the 1980s onwards provides a benchmark. Denmark took advantage of their first-to-market position with what was, at the time, an emergent technology, and backed it with long-term supportive policies, and public financial support. Denmark, a country with a similar population to Ireland, currently supplies around €9bn of wind energy technology annually, approximately a 40% share of the global market.

    Ireland could do the same with wave energy; we need a government willing to champion technology development, with long-term supportive funding and policy measures.

    This article originally appeared on RTÉ Brainstorm