Oriel Wind farm will lodge a planning application with An Bord Pleanala later this week for its proposed 375MW offshore wind farm in the North Irish Sea.
The project will be located off the north County Louth coast and will comprise 25 turbines.
The planning application, which is being lodged directly with An Bord Pleanala (ABP), also includes the construction of offshore and onshore electricity substations, and all of the necessary submarine and underground cables that are required for the operation of the proposed new green energy project.
Oriel, which is being developed by JERA Nex through its wholly owned subsidiary Parkwind, and ESB, is one of the first Irish offshore wind farms to be planned.
Parkwind country manager for Ireland Garrett Connell said: “This is a hugely significant moment, not just for Oriel and for the north-east region, but for the entire Irish energy sector and the wider Irish economy.
“We have been working on making Oriel wind farm a reality for nearly 20 years and a huge amount of work has been completed to get to this key project milestone.
“Throughout this time, we have engaged and consulted with local communities and other stakeholders on many occasions, and we would encourage them to participate in this planning process, and make their views known to An Bord Pleanála.”
The planning process is expected to take up to 12 months.
If permission is granted, construction of the Oriel array could begin in 2026, with the site potentially becoming operational in 2028.
Based on these timelines, Oriel would become Ireland’s first operational commercial scale offshore wind farm.
The planning process for the development of offshore wind farm requires that a project applies directly to An Bord Pleanala.
There is then an eight-week period, during which parties can make an observation, or a submission to ABP.
While Oriel did not secure a state-subsidised contract as part of last year’s Offshore Renewable Energy Support Scheme auction, this did not affect the overall development of the project, as the electricity that will be generated by Oriel’s turbines will be sold into the Irish electricity market.
Investment manager on behalf of ESB Conor Martin said: “Subject to planning permission, Oriel wind farm will have a significant impact in helping to meet Ireland’s target of having 80% of its electricity generated by renewable sources by 2030.
“The State’s Climate Action Plan 2023 envisages at least 7GW of offshore wind by 2030 and Oriel can play a key role in achieving that goal by being in the vanguard of the delivery of Irish offshore wind generation on a commercial scale.”
Oriel was granted a Maritime Area Consent (MAC) by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan in December of 2022.
A MAC is a new type of formal consent that must be granted by the Irish government before a proposed offshore wind farm project can apply for planning permission to An Bord Pleanála.
The awarding of the MAC meant Oriel could formally engage with representatives of ABP in recent months on the process of making a planning application.
The final design of the project has been based on a series of detailed scientific studies coupled with consultation with local and national stakeholders.