SSE Renewables Unveils Plans for Wind Farm Offshore Ireland’s Atlantic Coast

April 6, 2023, by Adnan Durakovic

SSE Renewables is seeking an investigative foreshore licence to facilitate survey work for a possible new offshore wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Tarbert, Co. Kerry, Ireland.

The Arklow Bank offshore wind farm in Ireland. Source: SSE

SSE Renewables has recently submitted an application for an investigative foreshore licence to Ireland’s Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and is seeking approval for investigative surveys of the seabed for an offshore wind project which could generate up to 1 GW of energy.

These geophysical, geotechnical, and environmental surveys are required to inform the renewable energy developer’s understanding of the prevailing environmental and met-ocean conditions at the foreshore investigative array area, which is a minimum of 13 kilometres offshore.

This marks SSE Renewables’ first licence application for an offshore wind project off the west coast of Ireland.

The company is developing an Irish offshore pipeline of up to 4 GW, which includes the country’s most advanced offshore project, Arklow Bank Wind Park 2, off the coast of Wicklow, and the Celtic Sea Array and Setanta Wind Park projects which are located off Ireland’s south and north-east coasts respectively.

”Our plans to develop an offshore wind project off the coast of Tarbert, Co. Kerry is a natural step forward in our renewables ambitions for Ireland,” Martin Sweeney, SSE Renewables Lead Project Manager for Blue Seas Development (Ireland), said.

”This will be our first project in the Atlantic Ocean and our experience in developing our Ossian project in the North Sea off Scotland, one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind developments, will be invaluable as we look to leverage the energy potential off Ireland’s west coast. Pursuing development opportunities off the west coast is part of our long-term offshore wind strategy in Ireland. The selection of this site off the coast of Tarbert allows us to leverage SSE’s existing energy infrastructure in north Kerry and maximise the use of complementary technologies.”

SSE developed Ireland’s first and only operating offshore wind farm, the Arklow Bank Phase 1, in partnership with GE Energy.

Commissioned in 2004, the 25.2 MW wind farm comprises seven 3 MW wind turbines installed off the coast of Arklow, Co. Wicklow, and was developed as a demonstrator project to prove the viability of offshore wind energy for Ireland.

The wind farm is owned and operated by GE Energy.