Engineering consultancy Wood has been awarded a pre- front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by Simply Blue Energy for its proposed floating offshore wind farm off the west coast of Ireland.
Wood’s team will assess the suitability of multiple floating platform designs against the site-specific criteria for the Western Star floating offshore wind project.
Wood will develop a solution that enables the lowest levelised cost of energy (LCOE) to be identified by taking a lifecycle approach to costs incorporating capital expenditure, construction costs and operational costs.
Wood energy, innovation and optimisation president Andy Hemingway said: “We are delighted to be working with Simply Blue Energy on the milestone Western Star Floating Offshore Wind energy project.
“As an emerging technology, floating wind farms could supercharge the world’s renewable energy capacity and will be an important part of the global energy transition. Investing in this technology of the future will help Ireland reach its targets on greenhouse gas emissions in the fight against climate change.”
Simply Blue Energy’s Western Star floating offshore wind farm is being developed in parallel with the company’s Saoirse wave energy conversion array.