The Irish Government has approved a foreshore lease to the Marine Institute to install a quarter scale renewable energy test facility in Galway.
The Galway Bay Marine and Renewable Energy Test Site is required to meet the government’s Marine Plan for Ireland and will help underpin its objective of producing 50GW from ocean energy by 2050.
It will feature wave and offshore wind devices, although the latter will be restricted to a single floating turbine.
The aim is to assist offshore renewable energy developers to move from the model testing in University College Cork, through the quarter-scale testing at the site.
The test site had operated under a foreshore lease granted in 2006 but which had expired in March 2016.
Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development Damien English said: “This lease is not part of any future commercial offshore renewable energy generating facility. I have consented to this application on the basis that there is no provision to export power from the test site to the national grid.”
Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten welcomed the reopening of the test site.
Image: SXC
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By EBS