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Released June 19, 2024 | GALWAY, IRELAND
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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Energy company SSE Renewables (Dublin, Ireland) is set to lodge plans for a large-scale offshore windfarm off Ireland's east coast.
The company will lodge its application with the planning authority, An Bord Pleanála, for a 56-turbine windfarm on and around the Arklow Bank off the County Wicklow coast. Spread across a 63-square kilometer area, it will have a capacity of 800 megawatts (MW), enough to power roughly 850,000 homes. Assuming a permit is granted and a final investment decision is made, construction would start in 2026, with first power from the Arklow Bank 2 project expected in 2029. The Arklow Bank is a shallow-water sandbank in the Irish Sea, around 10 kilometers off the coast of Arklow, County Wicklow.
SSE built its first Arklow Bank windfarm in 2003 with a capacity of 25 MW when it was commissioned in 2004. At the time it was the first offshore windfarm in Ireland and the first in the world to use wind turbines rated at more than 3 MW. It is still Ireland's only operational offshore windfarm. Industrial Info is tracking 18 active and proposed offshore windfarm projects in Ireland worth more than US$47 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.
Arklow Bank Project Director James O'Hara stated: "Our team of over 50 renewable energy professionals supported by a dedicated local supply chain has been working hard to deliver SSE's flagship Irish offshore wind farm--Arklow Bank Wind Park 2--for almost seven years now. In doing so, we're fulfilling the pioneering vision of delivering commercial scale offshore wind at Arklow Bank which dates back almost 20 years to when the first seven turbines were installed at the site and became Ireland's first and only operational offshore wind farm. We're pleased to announce we're submitting what we believe is a robust and compelling planning application to deliver a world class renewable energy asset at Arklow Bank using the very latest offshore technology that can generate the additional green energy Ireland needs to meet 2030 renewable energy targets. [It will also] bring enormous national and regional socio-economic benefits such as up to 800 million euro ($860 million) in economic investment, hundreds of jobs and a multi-million Euro Community Benefit Fund."
The project's turbines will be installed on steel monopile foundations. The offshore application also proposes two offshore substation platforms as well as associated export, inter-array and interconnector subsea cabling that would connect the offshore wind farm to Ireland's national grid at a cabling landfall point at Johnstown North, north of Arklow Town. The developer has already submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment Report as well as a Natura Impact Statement to An Bord Pleanála.
Ireland has an ambitious offshore wind strategy, starting with a 2030 target of 5 gigawatts (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. This would be six times more than the country's current peak electricity demand. The country successfully held its first-ever offshore wind auction last year. Four projects with a combined capacity of 3 GW were awarded and the average price of the winning bids was 86 euro ($92) per megawatt-hour (MWh), which was much lower than expected.
Launching the Future Framework for Offshore Renewable Energy initiative recently, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan called offshore wind "Ireland's biggest industrial opportunity for decades." He added: "Renewable energy projects are poised to revolutionize our economy, offering significant regional and national economic benefits while giving us more control over our energy sovereignty. Our offshore wind energy is potentially the largest domestic source of electricity that can replace volatile, imported fossil fuels. It also gives us our most exciting industrial opportunity for decades as we plan to not only power our own country, but export our excess energy to power Europe."
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 company will lodge its application with the planning authority, An Bord Pleanála, for a 56-turbine windfarm on and around the Arklow Bank off the County Wicklow coast. Spread across a 63-square kilometer area, it will have a capacity of 800 megawatts (MW), enough to power roughly 850,000 homes. Assuming a permit is granted and a final investment decision is made, construction would start in 2026, with first power from the Arklow Bank 2 project expected in 2029. The Arklow Bank is a shallow-water sandbank in the Irish Sea, around 10 kilometers off the coast of Arklow, County Wicklow.
SSE built its first Arklow Bank windfarm in 2003 with a capacity of 25 MW when it was commissioned in 2004. At the time it was the first offshore windfarm in Ireland and the first in the world to use wind turbines rated at more than 3 MW. It is still Ireland's only operational offshore windfarm. Industrial Info is tracking 18 active and proposed offshore windfarm projects in Ireland worth more than US$47 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.
Arklow Bank Project Director James O'Hara stated: "Our team of over 50 renewable energy professionals supported by a dedicated local supply chain has been working hard to deliver SSE's flagship Irish offshore wind farm--Arklow Bank Wind Park 2--for almost seven years now. In doing so, we're fulfilling the pioneering vision of delivering commercial scale offshore wind at Arklow Bank which dates back almost 20 years to when the first seven turbines were installed at the site and became Ireland's first and only operational offshore wind farm. We're pleased to announce we're submitting what we believe is a robust and compelling planning application to deliver a world class renewable energy asset at Arklow Bank using the very latest offshore technology that can generate the additional green energy Ireland needs to meet 2030 renewable energy targets. [It will also] bring enormous national and regional socio-economic benefits such as up to 800 million euro ($860 million) in economic investment, hundreds of jobs and a multi-million Euro Community Benefit Fund."
The project's turbines will be installed on steel monopile foundations. The offshore application also proposes two offshore substation platforms as well as associated export, inter-array and interconnector subsea cabling that would connect the offshore wind farm to Ireland's national grid at a cabling landfall point at Johnstown North, north of Arklow Town. The developer has already submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment Report as well as a Natura Impact Statement to An Bord Pleanála.
Ireland has an ambitious offshore wind strategy, starting with a 2030 target of 5 gigawatts (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. This would be six times more than the country's current peak electricity demand. The country successfully held its first-ever offshore wind auction last year. Four projects with a combined capacity of 3 GW were awarded and the average price of the winning bids was 86 euro ($92) per megawatt-hour (MWh), which was much lower than expected.
Launching the Future Framework for Offshore Renewable Energy initiative recently, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan called offshore wind "Ireland's biggest industrial opportunity for decades." He added: "Renewable energy projects are poised to revolutionize our economy, offering significant regional and national economic benefits while giving us more control over our energy sovereignty. Our offshore wind energy is potentially the largest domestic source of electricity that can replace volatile, imported fossil fuels. It also gives us our most exciting industrial opportunity for decades as we plan to not only power our own country, but export our excess energy to power Europe."
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).
