Minesto selected for €20.2m EU grant for Irish tidal kite array

Swedish ocean energy developer Minesto has been selected by the European Commission for a €20.2 million Innovation Fund grant towards a planned 10 MW tidal kite array in Ireland, Offshore Energy reported. The funding would cover 60% of the investment needed for the proposed Euro Dragon Farm, which is intended for Irish coastal waters.

The selection moves Minesto into the Grant Agreement Preparation phase, rather than completing the funding process. The company is expected to sign an agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, known as CINEA. That process is due to be finalised in the first quarter of 2027, according to the report, leaving preparation of the agreement as the next step for the proposed development.

Euro Dragon Farm would be the first Dragon Farm tidal energy project in the European Union. Minesto chief executive Martin Edlund described the grant selection as the most important commercial milestone in the company’s history. He said the outcome reflected favourable assessments of the competitiveness of its Dragon technology, the project’s investment case and Minesto’s ability to deliver it. Edlund also presented the selection as recognition of the company’s role in developing Europe’s tidal energy sector commercially.

The Irish project forms part of a much larger package of European support for net-zero technologies. Offshore Energy reported that the Commission had selected 77 projects across Europe for funding worth €3.4 billion under a call launched in December 2025. Minesto’s proposed array is therefore one of a broader group of developments chosen for support through that funding round.

Across the selected projects, the Commission estimates potential avoided greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to around 290 million tonnes over their first ten years of operation. That estimate applies to the wider funding portfolio, rather than to Euro Dragon Farm alone. For Minesto, the immediate focus is the grant agreement process underpinning the planned EU contribution to its Irish array.