The Irish Government will aggressively pursue potential commercial "synergies" between new energy technology sectors on both sides of the Irish Sea, the Republic's energy minister has said.
Interviewed by the Sunday Herald as part of a two day mission to Scotland with Enterprise Ireland, Alex White TD, the Dublin Labour government's minister for energy technology and natural resources, said there were "significant opportunities for close collaboration between Scotland and Ireland, both at the official level and also between businesses."
He said: "I am here to talk about business and the potential that a lot of Irish companies can offer in Scotland in terms of the great work that's happening here. Change is happening at such a rapid level in the energy and renewable base."
White, whose visit also included visits to the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation and a speech to a low carbon conference in Edinburgh, also used the visit to highlight the industry-academic research collaboration operations offered by Ireland's new Irish Maritime and Energy Research Campus and Commercial Cluster (IMERC). The new facility at Ringaskiddy outside Cork, a joint venture between University College Cork, Cork Institute for Technology and the Irish Navy, is designed to exploit opportunities in maritime energy and technology, described by the minister as "one of the biggest global research hubs for marine energy, if not the biggest, with a huge number of marine researchers".
Despite its potential for onshore and offshore wind, Ireland, which lacks fossil fuel resources, currently generates only around 20% of its energy from renewable sources, compared to around 44% in Scotland.
White said: "We import all of our oil and a huge amount of our gas. We are all trying to get away from fossil fuels but in our case its more urgent for reasons, one is [the need to mitigate the effects of climate change] and also an over-reliance on imports."
As well as showcasing the work of Irish-owned companies diversifying into the "cleantech" sector in Scotland, including the East Lothian-based firm Glennon Brothers, which claims to be setting new standards in reducing energy usage in the timber industry. He was also talking up Irish companies who are securing leading positions in cleantech, such as the domestic energy monitoring software company Climote, which is backed by the former Scottish and Southern Energy chief executive Ian Marchant.
Cleantech is currently among the fastest growing sectors in the Irish in economy, which is in turn one of the fastest growing in the EU. The country is currently ranked 5th out of 40 nations in the 2014 Global Cleantech Innovations Index "in terms of its emerging cleantech innovations".
At a ministerial reception on Tuesday White said: "It is estimated that there are currently more than 250 indigenous Irish companies exporting goods and services to Scotland. I would like to encourage [Scots companies] to speak to as many of these Irish companies to see whether there are collaborative opportunities to help your business grow."
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