Parkwind and ESB will start site investigations later this summer off the Irish coast of Dundalk for the Oriel offshore wind farm, having been granted a license by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.
The investigations, scheduled to start in August, will record specific wind data of the offshore site and data on the seabed conditions of the future site, needed mainly for the engineering design of the foundations for the wind turbines.
The investigation works will commence in close dialogue with the relevant stakeholders and the local community.
Dandalk is a coastal town in County Louth, north of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.
The Irish Government’s Climate Action Plan, published this week, set a target of 3.5GW of offshore wind for Ireland in the next decade, which will help renewables account for 70% of electricity generation by 2030.
Project director Peter Caluwaerts said: “The license to commence two important surveys marks another significant milestone in the Oriel project.
“This allows us to add wind data gathering and soil data surveys to our already ongoing ecological surveys on the site.”
A buoy containing equipment that will measure the specific wind data of the Oriel offshore site for a year will be deployed in August this year and the soil investigation campaign is also due to start in the same month.
Caluwaerts added: “The Climate Action Plan that came out earlier this week clearly highlights the need to advance on these works.
“With the support of our dedicated main shareholders Parkwind and ESB, it is our ambition to make Oriel wind farm the first large scale offshore wind farm in Ireland, thus contributing to the wider goals of the Irish Government on energy transition.”