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The 824MW offshore wind farm will be located off Counties Dublin and Wicklow RWE will be submitting a planning application in the coming days to An Bord Pleanála for the 824MW Dublin Array offshore wind farm, which will be located off the coast of counties Dublin and Wicklow. The Dublin Array project is a JV between RWE and Saorgus Energy with RWE leading the development of the project on behalf of the partnership. Once fully constructed, the development of Dublin Array would play a key role in supporting Ireland to meet its Climate Action Plan, which aims to deliver 80% of total electricity demand from renewable sources by 2030. It would also support domestic energy generation, helping to reduce Ireland’s need to import and burn fossil fuels for electricity. The Dublin Array wind farm project would be located 10 kilometres off the coast of counties Dublin and Wicklow and have between 39 and 50 wind turbines. Subject to obtaining planning permission and a financial investment decision, construction of Dublin Array could begin as early as 2027, with operations projected to start in 2030. The project is likely to require more than 800 full time equivalent roles during the construction phase, with approximately 80 people directly employed and 160 indirectly employed by Dublin Array over the longer term operational phase. Dublin Array also proposes to deliver a Community Benefit Fund, worth up to €6.5m per annum for 20 years, with the first payments becoming available at the construction stage of the project. As with other RWE Community Benefits, decisions on how the funds can be spent would be made by a committee of local representatives who will be appointed by an independent fund administrator. Vanessa O’Connell, RWE Renewables Ireland, Dublin Array project director, said: We have had extensive consultations and communications with stakeholders and local communities in recent years, this has been with the aim of keeping people informed about the project and to seek their views and inputs. RWE has a strong track record of working closely with communities in areas where we operate offshore wind projects, and that will also be the case with Dublin Array. Comprehensive environmental surveys and assessments have been at the core of the development of the Dublin Array project, which are described in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR), that forms an important part of the planning application. The proposed location for the Dublin Array operational base would be in Dún Laoghaire Harbour, with a new facility being located on St. Michael’s Pier adjacent to the ferry terminal building. Locating the operational base in Dún Laoghaire would have a significant financial impact across the Greater Dublin Area, as it would generate an estimated €450m to €650m in regional expenditure over the lifetime of the wind farm, RWE said. Continuing its commitment to locally based jobs, RWE recently opened its new office in Dún Laoghaire to act as its base for offshore wind development in Ireland, this includes 27 Irish-based employees working on the development of Dublin Array. The planning application for Dublin Array also includes the proposed construction of a new substation at Jamestown, Dublin 18, which will connect the electricity generated by the Offshore wind farm into the national electricity transmission system at the existing substation in Carrickmines, Dublin 18. Dublin Array was granted a Maritime Area Consent (MAC) for the wind farm in late 2022, a key requirement in order to submit a planning application to An Bord Pleanála. In addition, the project was successful in Ireland’s first Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS) auction in May 2023 and has a grid connection offer from EirGrid. All planning documents can be viewed on www.dublinarray-marineplanning.ie from March 10th. |
