The announcement, made today, entailed plans to co-operate on future offshore wind development in the Irish Sea and Celtic Sea.

In 2022, Rosslare Europort management announced plans to establish the port, its hinterland and the south-east region as Ireland’s Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Hub, with the potential to create up to 2,000 jobs.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Jack Chambers T.D., said: “Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) is integral to meeting Ireland’s Climate Change ambitions with a target of achieving 7GW of offshore energy by 2030, 2GW of which is dedicated to the production of green hydrogen.

"As set out in a policy statement published in December 2021 a multiport approach to the provision of port infrastructure will facilitate the development of ORE in Ireland which will help maximise the economic benefits at regional as well as national level in terms of the creation of jobs and new SME enterprise that can support the development of the ORE industry.

"This agreement between Rosslare Europort and ESB is a welcome demonstration of the collaboration and commitment by these two commercial entities in delivering on our ORE ambitions.”

Paul Lennon, Head of Offshore Wind and Hydrogen at ESB, said: “ESB has ambitious plans for the development of offshore wind, hydrogen and renewable storage projects in Ireland to support the renewable targets set out in the Climate Action Plan 2023 and ESB’s Net Zero by 2040 corporate strategy.

“ESB looks forward to working with Irish Rail to ensure that suitable port infrastructure is available at Rosslare Europort to enable the successful delivery of these projects.”

Glenn Carr, Director Commercial Business Units for Iarnród Éireann, the Port Authority of Rosslare Europort said: “Rosslare Europort is excited to work with ESB whose vision for the potential of ORE aligns with our own. We believe there are strong synergies to be achieved as we work together to place this renewable energy industry at the heart of Ireland’s decarbonised future.”