600-Megawatt Windfarm Licensed in Northern Ireland

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Northern Ireland's largest offshore wind development is moving ahead following the award of a license for a 600-megawatt (MW) project off the east coast of County Down.

The Crown Estate has awarded development rights for the proposed windfarm to First Flight Wind Limited, a joint venture created by Dong Energy A/S (Fredericia, Denmark) and a subsidiary of international renewable project developer, RES Group (Kings Langley, England).

The Crown Estate also awarded licenses for two tidal stream projects, each of up to 100 MW off the east coast of Torr Head and Fair Head in County Antrim.

"Today's announcement by The Crown Estate represents a major milestone for Northern Ireland," said Northern Ireland Energy Minister, Arlene Foster MLA. "The development of offshore renewables is an excellent opportunity for Northern Ireland in so many ways - energy security and diversity; climate change mitigation; a contribution to the Executive's 2020 targets and the business supply chain opportunities for local companies over the next few years as these projects come on stream."

Rob Hastings, Director of Energy and Infrastructure with The Crown Estate, added: said: "I am delighted that we have today announced the successful bidders for the Northern Ireland offshore wind and tidal leasing rounds. We will continue to work closely with Northern Ireland Executive and developers to progress projects and attract investment, with the aim of helping meet Northern Ireland's targets on renewable energy production."

The companies who have been awarded rights to develop the offshore renewable energy opportunities in Northern Ireland are:

• First Flight Wind Limited for the 600 MW offshore wind area: a joint venture between Dong Energy of Denmark and RES-B9 (NI) Offshore Wind Limited, which combines the local wind development experience of Northern Ireland company B9 Energy with Renewable Energy Systems, part of the RES Group, an international renewable energy project developer.

• Tidal Ventures Limited for the 100 MW tidal opportunity at Torr Head:a joint venture between OpenHydro Group, a designer and manufacturer of tidal turbines, and Bord Gáis Energy one of Ireland's leading energy providers.

• DP Marine Energy Limited with DEME Blue Energy for their 100 MW tidal stream energy project off Fair Head:this project is a consortium comprising Cork based DP Marine Energy Limited and the Belgian marine engineering company DEME Blue Energy.

The Crown Estate first launched the tender for the Northern Ireland licenses at the end of 2011. For additional information, see December 16, 2011, article - Crown Estate Launches Leasing Rounds for Northern Ireland Offshore Developments.

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