€85m wind farm project planned for Irish Sea

A company is planning to develop an €85m windfarm off the coast of County Louth, it emerged today.

The Clogherhead windfarm will have the potential to supply energy to customers North and South and its first phase is expected to be completed by 2009.

Oriel Windfarm Limited said the Clogherhead area offered one of the most attractive locations for a windfarm in the Irish Sea.

“The area has excellent wind resources, good seabed topsoil, shelter from high wave loads and insignificant tidal streams,” said managing director Brian Britton.

The windfarm will be able to produce 250 megawatts (MW) of electricity. This is around half the size of the 520 MW Airtricity windfarm off the coast of Wicklow, which will be the largest of its kind in the world when it is completed.

Oriel Windfarm Limited has received a foreshore licence from the Department of Marine and Natural Resources to allow its investigation of the suitability of the site to go ahead.

The increasing evidence of global warming and the decline in oil supplies has increased the level of interest in renewable energy. However, the energy supply from windfarms varies according to the weather conditions and because electricity cannot be stored, power companies have to use other sources to make up the shortfall.

Mr Britton said the rise in the prices of hydrocarbons (such as coal and oil) was making wind power more competitive.

“Oriel believes that now is an opportune time to commence work on a new offshore windfarm in the light of recent positive changes in Government policy and Government predictions of a very large increase in offshore electricity generation from 2005 onwards,” he said.

According to a consultants’ report for Marine Institute last year, the “outstanding wind, wave and tidal regime” in the Irish Sea offers very high growth prospects and attractive investment potential over the next four years.