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Released April 22, 2025 | GALWAY, IRELAND
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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--A planned US$1.1 billion windfarm project off the west coast of Ireland has been shelved.
The Sceirde Rocks windfarm project was being developed by Corio Generation, part of Macquarie Asset Management (Sydney, Australia). The local company in charge of the development, Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta (FST) (Galway, Ireland), only submitted its planning request for a 450-megawatt (MW) windfarm in January. For additional information, see January 28, 2025, article - Planning Submitted For $1 Billion Offshore Windfarm West Of Ireland. The 30-turbine windfarm, which was to be located in the Atlantic Ocean five to 11 kilometers from land, would have had the capacity to power 350,000 homes and offset more than half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. Industrial Info is tracking 19 Irish offshore windfarm projects, many at the early stages of development, worth more than US$55 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.
The decision is a major blow to Ireland's fledgling offshore wind strategy and comes after Macquarie, which has been trying to sell Corio, failed to find a buyer. That failure has prompted a major restructuring at Corio. A spokesperson said: "Given challenging market conditions in the offshore wind sector, Corio Generation is refocusing its global operations to prioritise the development of a smaller portfolio of projects which have the clearest route through to construction. This will also require a restructure of the organisation to reflect that change in strategy. We are discussing this with our project partners and staff who may be affected by these changes." It is also understood that more challenging site conditions were discovered in Phase 1 investigations for the project, which played a role in the final decision.
Ireland's Taoiseach Micheál Martin expressed disappointment at the news: "We are sorry Corio made this decision, but we are going forward. We were not depending on any one project and we have an extensive plan going into the future, and some of those windfarms are already permitted."
To date, Ireland has only one operational offshore windfarm at Arklow Bank off the coast of County Wicklow on the east coast. It was commissioned more than 20 years ago and has a generating capacity of 25 MW. Sceirde Rocks was one of four major new projects with a combined generating capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) that were awarded licences in Ireland's first-ever offshore wind auction last year. The others are North Irish Sea Array (500 MW), Dublin Array (up to 850 MW) and Codling Wind Park (up to 1,450 MW). The country has ambitious offshore targets starting with a 2030 target of 5 GW of grid-connected offshore wind plus an additional 2 GW of non-grid connected offshore wind in development. By 2040, it wants its grid-connected capacity to be 20 GW, rising to 37 GW by 2050.
Speaking to RTE News after Corio's decision, Minister for the Environment Darragh O'Brien said that the government had expected some level of attrition in the market: "Collectively, the Phase One projects, which are being progressed through planning, will deliver almost 4 GW of renewable energy. In addition, we will be progressing a new National DMAP (designated maritime area plan) process to identify additional sites for the development of offshore wind in Ireland. As a government, we remain very committed to the delivery of offshore wind in Ireland."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The Sceirde Rocks windfarm project was being developed by Corio Generation, part of Macquarie Asset Management (Sydney, Australia). The local company in charge of the development, Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta (FST) (Galway, Ireland), only submitted its planning request for a 450-megawatt (MW) windfarm in January. For additional information, see January 28, 2025, article - Planning Submitted For $1 Billion Offshore Windfarm West Of Ireland. The 30-turbine windfarm, which was to be located in the Atlantic Ocean five to 11 kilometers from land, would have had the capacity to power 350,000 homes and offset more than half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. Industrial Info is tracking 19 Irish offshore windfarm projects, many at the early stages of development, worth more than US$55 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.
The decision is a major blow to Ireland's fledgling offshore wind strategy and comes after Macquarie, which has been trying to sell Corio, failed to find a buyer. That failure has prompted a major restructuring at Corio. A spokesperson said: "Given challenging market conditions in the offshore wind sector, Corio Generation is refocusing its global operations to prioritise the development of a smaller portfolio of projects which have the clearest route through to construction. This will also require a restructure of the organisation to reflect that change in strategy. We are discussing this with our project partners and staff who may be affected by these changes." It is also understood that more challenging site conditions were discovered in Phase 1 investigations for the project, which played a role in the final decision.
Ireland's Taoiseach Micheál Martin expressed disappointment at the news: "We are sorry Corio made this decision, but we are going forward. We were not depending on any one project and we have an extensive plan going into the future, and some of those windfarms are already permitted."
To date, Ireland has only one operational offshore windfarm at Arklow Bank off the coast of County Wicklow on the east coast. It was commissioned more than 20 years ago and has a generating capacity of 25 MW. Sceirde Rocks was one of four major new projects with a combined generating capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) that were awarded licences in Ireland's first-ever offshore wind auction last year. The others are North Irish Sea Array (500 MW), Dublin Array (up to 850 MW) and Codling Wind Park (up to 1,450 MW). The country has ambitious offshore targets starting with a 2030 target of 5 GW of grid-connected offshore wind plus an additional 2 GW of non-grid connected offshore wind in development. By 2040, it wants its grid-connected capacity to be 20 GW, rising to 37 GW by 2050.
Speaking to RTE News after Corio's decision, Minister for the Environment Darragh O'Brien said that the government had expected some level of attrition in the market: "Collectively, the Phase One projects, which are being progressed through planning, will deliver almost 4 GW of renewable energy. In addition, we will be progressing a new National DMAP (designated maritime area plan) process to identify additional sites for the development of offshore wind in Ireland. As a government, we remain very committed to the delivery of offshore wind in Ireland."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
