The planned introduction by the Irish government of a new marine planning regime which will be introduced via the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill, 2020, and the recent designation of seven offshore wind projects as relevant, meaning they will be fast-tracked through the new marine planning regime, illustrates an enormous increase in the scale and pace of the development for the Irish wind sector. As elsewhere across Europe, offshore wind development is driven by significant political commitment, and the Irish Government’s Climate Action Plan commits to having at least 3.5 GW of offshore wind in Ireland in the next ten years, which will help renewables account for 70% of electricity generation by 2030.
Partrac are both delighted and proud to have been involved in a variety of supporting roles with 3 of the Irish offshore wind projects currently under development, utilising both our metocean survey and consultancy expertise. Our commercial offering and skillset is relatively unique in the offshore sector, combining marine/offshore measurement data acquisition capabilities with the provision of professional environmental, scientific and engineering consulting services. Our roles in assisting the development of the Irish offshore wind sector to date include:
- Scoping and planning of Hydrographic and Metocean Surveys.
- Deployment and servicing of Floating Lidar and Metocean measurement equipment in support of site characterisation and feasibility studies.
- Review and analysis of Lidar wind resource data.
- Scoping assessment of the marine and coastal physical processes topic area for EIA.
- Assisting developers with marine and coastal physical processes at their sites, as they move through the regulatory and consenting process.
- Study of complex seabed morphodynamics to assist front end engineering design and planning of WTG and cable (inter array and export) layouts.
Dr Kevin Black, Technical Director of Partrac said, “We are very pleased to be playing a part in the Irish offshore wind sector, providing specialist support across a range of field surveys and consultancy. We are confident that our input and assistance will help towards achieving the goals for offshore wind set out in the Irish Government’s Climate Action Plan”.
If you would like to discuss Partrac’s Survey and Consultancy services to the offshore renewables industry, please contact Technical Director Dr Kevin Black (kblack@partrac.com) or Commercial Director Sam Athey (sathey@partrac.com).
