April 17, 2021
Ireland

Plans for wind farm off Bray Head coast

Mary Fogarty | Bray People | www.independent.ie

The company Ocean Winds has started the process to apply for a wind farm 13km from shore at Bray Head.

The company enters the Irish offshore wind market with proposals for Cailleach Offshore Windfarm on a 317km squared site.

In a statement, Ocean Winds said that the wind farm would deliver up to 1,600MW of energy by 2030.

They have submitted a foreshore licence application to carry out initial site investigations.

These investigations will also be used to inform the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA) required for the purposes of securing planning consent.

The project intends to obtain Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) award by mid 2020s and contribute to governments 2030 policy targets.

Programmes of stakeholder and community engagement will be announced shortly.

‘With more than a decade’s experience, OW brings a history of project deliverability and cost reduction,’ said Dan Finch of Ocean Winds.

‘This includes bringing the world-leading Moray East Offshore Windfarm in Scotland from concept to construction. We have a track record of using our strength as global leaders in the renewables sector to create opportunities for local companies who want to expand and diversify into the emerging offshore wind sector.

‘The Irish Government have acknowledged their geographic and climatic advantages with ambitious targets to achieve 5GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030, and are delivering public policy proposals to support this. We look forward to playing an important part as trusted partner in enabling Ireland to achieve its 2030 and wider Net Zero ambitions with this and future projects.’

Dr Andronikos Kafas of Of OW said that proposals will be available for inspection at public information events which will be advertised in the next few months, subject to the evolving Covid-19 situation.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/04/17/plans-for-wind-farm-off-bray-head-coast/