Partrac has been chosen to support the development of three unnamed Irish offshore wind projects.
Services the company has been contracted to provide include assisting developers with marine and coastal physical processes at their sites, as they move through the regulatory and consenting process.
The consultancy has also carried out studies of complex seabed morphodynamics to assist front end engineering design and planning of turbine and cable layouts.
Other activities carried out by Partrac in relation to the three projects in development include scoping and planning of hydrographic and metocean surveys, deployment and servicing of floating lidar and metocean measurement equipment, review and analysis of lidar wind resource data as well as scoping assessments in relation to environmental impact assessments.
Partrac technical director Kevin Black said: “We are very pleased to be playing a part in the Irish offshore wind sector, providing specialist support across a range of field surveys and consultancy.
“We are confident that our input and assistance will help towards achieving the goals for offshore wind set out in the Irish Government’s Climate Action Plan”.
The Irish government plans to introduce a new marine planning regime via the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill 2020 and has also designated seven offshore wind projects as relevant, for fast-tracking through the new regime.
The Irish Government’s Climate Action Plan commits to having at least 3.5GW of offshore wind in Ireland in the next ten years, which will help renewables account for 70% of electricity generation by 2030.