Ireland’s Big 7-Gigawatt Offshore Wind Power Push Underway

In the republic of Ireland, they are planning to install 7 GW of offshore wind by 2030. The first step, the issuing of Maritime Area Consents (MACs), occurred in December 2022. “Seven new projects, amounting to 2.5GW, will enter the Irish planning system and are expected to take part in ORESS 1, the first round of offshore wind auctions set to take place in 2023.”

Currently, Ireland only has 25 MW (megawatts) of offshore wind. This contrasts sharply with “the 5.5GW of onshore wind farms that are currently powering the entire island of Ireland (4.3GW belonging to the Republic of Ireland while the rest of 1.3GW belongs to Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom).”

Ireland is not known for its sunny coasts, and the country realized and decided early on that wind power — rather than solar power — was critical to a clean, renewable energy future there. It has dealt with pushback from residents who don’t want wind turbines in their backyards or interfering with their view of rolling expanses of green. But wind growth is powering on there, as it should everywhere, and that includes a lot more offshore wind power projects as well as more onshore wind power projects.

Approximately 46% if Ireland’s electricity comes from wind power. Though, 29% still comes from fossil gas (aka natural gas). Plowing forward and trying to eliminate more of that fossil gas, these 7 projects are reportedly going to be competing for contracts in Ireland’s first 2023 wind power auction:

• Codling Wind Park: 0.9-1.5GW developed by EDF and Fred Olsen Seawind;
• Bray and Kish Bank: 0.6-0.9GW developed by RWE and Saorgus Energy;
• Arklow Bank 2: 520MW-800MW developed by SSE Renewables;
• North Irish Sea Array: 500MW developed by Statkraft;
• Sceirde Rocks: 450MW developed by Corio Generation;
• Oriel Windfarm: 370MW developed by Parkwind and ESB.

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