Wind power’s next wave – seven projects have been licensed already
SEVEN wind farm projects that are expected to generate the next wave of offshore power have been granted foreshore licences by Environment Minister Eamon Ryan.
ORIEL WIND PARK
This planned project aims to produce up to 370 megawatts (MW) of power and will be located between 6km and 22km from the coast of Co. Louth.
The Oriel project, which is being developed by Parkwind and ESB, expects to apply for consent to the relevant planning authorities this year.
DUBLIN ARRAY
Dublin Array is a proposed twopart offshore wind farm on the Kish and Bray Banks, 10km from the coastline of Dublin.
A joint venture between German energy giant RWE and Irish firm Saorgus, it proposes to deliver between 600MW and 900MW of power.
The project is in the development phase but it is expected to submit its application for planning consent early this year.
CODLING WIND PARK
France’s EDF Renewables and Sweden’s Fred Olsen Renewables have joined forces to develop the 1.5 gigawatt (GW) Codling Wind Park off Bray and Greystones in Co. Wicklow,
13km from the shore.
Consisting of two projects, Codling I and Codling II, it is in the early development stages, but the project team aims to submit onshore and offshore planning applications to An Bord Pleanála by early 2023.
SCEIRDE ROCKS WIND FARM
In September, Australian infrastructure giant Macquarie bought the rights to develop the Sceirde Rocks offshore wind power scheme between 5km and 8.5km off the coast of Connemara, near Carna in
Co. Galway.
It is estimated that the project will cost around €1bn to develop and will provide 400MW of power.
Development work is expected to continue for a number of years.
NORTH IRISH SEA ARRAY
Statkraft, Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy, is the developer behind the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) project.
The proposed location is off the coast of counties Dublin, Meath, and Louth, between 12.5km and 23.5km from shore.
It is estimated the planned development will generate between 500MW and 870MW of electricity. A planning application is expected to be brought forward later this year.
AND ENERGIA’S SOUTHEAST SCHEME IS IN THE WIND...
Apart from these seven projects, Energia plans to develop a
North Celtic Sea and South
Irish Sea offshore wind farm between 10km and 25km off the coast of Waterford and Wexford which could provide up to 1.6GW of power.
Energia Group has been granted foreshore licences to enable essential survey work to be carried out over the next 18 to 24 months.