The future of two floating wind turbine projects off the coast of Ireland has been secured following the formation of a joint venture.
A partnership between Irish ocean energy specialist Simply Blue Group and EDF Renewables has been formed to develop the multi-million-pound Western Star and Emerald floating wind projects, both to generate 1.3GW of power, meeting Irish government targets to have 2GW of floating wind in development by 2030.
Last September, the Western Star Floating wind project was thrown into jeopardy after majority stakeholder Shell pulled out of the Irish renewables sector.
It will be located 35km off the west coast of Clare in waters over 100m deep. The floating technology proposed for the project will allow the turbines to be located far from shore and in waters over 100m deep where traditional fixed bottom turbine foundations would be uneconomical. This allows the turbines to be placed further from shore, up to 60km.
The Emerald floating wind project will be located off the coast of Cork. Both projects will generate enough electricity to power 2M Irish homes.
Project managing director for Emerald and Western Star Val Cummins said: “The partnership is ideally placed to deliver for Phase 3 of offshore wind in Ireland.
“This is key to kick-starting floating offshore wind, which will have a transformational positive impact on Ireland’s maritime and energy landscape, including the coastal communities in Cork and Clare.”
In the first phase, the partners will aim to install 300MW-450MW capacity, followed by 700MW-900MW.
EDF Renewables director – offshore, Ryanne Burges, said: “Western Star and Emerald add to EDF Renewables UK and Ireland’s growing portfolio of offshore wind projects.
“This includes the operational Blyth and Teesside offshore wind farms in England, Neart na Gaoithe which is currently under construction off the coast of Scotland, and Codling Wind Park which was recently successful in Ireland’s first ever offshore wind energy auction.”
The team-up is subject to a merger clearance in the coming months.
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