Energia Renewables has completed seabed surveys for its offshore wind development, off the coast of Wexford and Wicklow, south-east Ireland.
In addition to the South Irish Sea project, Energia Renewables is also progressing the North Celtic Sea project off the coast of Waterford.
The developer announced that seabed surveys for this project were completed last month.
Energia Renewables’ South Irish Sea project off Wexford and Wicklow is now one of the most advanced offshore energy projects in the south-east and anywhere in Ireland, the company has stated.
This means that once all approvals are in place, assuming there are no delays, construction of the offshore wind farm could start as early as 2026.
Following the granting of a Foreshore Licence in 2021, Energia Renewables carried out surveys over several months between April and October 2022.
These surveys, known as ‘geotechnical’ and ‘geophysical’ surveys measured important information about the seabed and conditions at the offshore sites off Wexford and Wicklow.
Information from the surveys will be vital in informing the next phase of Energia’s project as it moves on to project design stage where decisions are made on the number, size and suitable locations of the wind turbines.
Energia Renewables Offshore Manager Eoin McPartland said: “The information from these surveys will materially progress our understanding of the sites and inform the future project development.
“We’re very grateful to the fishing community across the south-east for their engagement and discussions with us, which helped us to successfully complete these surveys, and to everyone who has taken part in our consultation processes and our public information clinics to date.
“We will continue to consult with fishing and local communities and will provide regular updates on our South Irish Sea project on an ongoing basis.
“We welcome anyone who would like to get in touch about this project to do so and we welcome any inputs.”
“We will now progress to more detailed design and consultation ahead of the establishment of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) where we will apply for a Maritime Area Consent (MAC).
“It is critical that this process is initiated and available to projects such as the South Irish Sea project as soon as possible to allow for achievement of Ireland’s climate action targets.
“Following MAC grant, the project will go ahead with a formal planning application in due course.”