The Oriel offshore wind project in Ireland is getting ready for the start of site surveys after having secured a license by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. The investigation projects are planned to begin in August, at the site off the coast of Dundalk, in discussions with the stakeholders and the local community.
ESB, the project owner, informed that the surveys will gather data on the wind and seabed conditions at the area, that are to be used for the engineering design of the turbine foundations.
Moreover, ESB reported that the project follows the Government’s published the Climate Action Plan, that sets a target of 3.5GW of offshore wind to be developed in the next ten years that will help renewables account for 70% of electricity generation.
As Peter Caluwaerts, Project Director, commented
The license to commence two important surveys marks another significant milestone in the Oriel Project. This allows us to add wind data gathering and soil data surveys to our already ongoing ecological surveys on the site.
He continued that the partners will deploy in August a buoy containing equipment that will measure specific wind data at the site for a year.
Parkwind got onboard the Oriel project in October 2017, when it agreed on investment to become a strategic partner in the 330MW offshore wind farm.
At the beginning of the year, ESB reached an agreement with Parkwind to acquire an up to 35% stake in the project. Oriel is planned to begin commercial operations in the early 2020s.
