Renewables group SSE has secured permission for onshore works required for phase two of its Arklow Bank offshore wind farm to the national grid.
The decision by An Bord Pleanála means SSE Renewables is the first company to secure planning permission to develop onshore transmission grid infrastructure for an Irish offshore wind farm.
SSE Renewables is actively developing phase two of Arklow Bank Wind Park, 13km off the Wicklow coastline to the east of Arklow.
The company will shortly apply for a Maritime Area Consent to allow it to proceed to apply for planning permission for the project’s offshore infrastructure, which includes offshore wind turbines, substation platforms and sub-sea cables.
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GE already has seven turbines operating in the first phase of the wind park. SSE says it is targeting delivery of up to 800MW of offshore wind energy at Arklow Bank with the potential to power almost 850,000 homes annually and offset about 830 billion kilogrammes of carbon emissions in what is expected to be a €2.5 billion investment that will come online in 2028.
“This consent is the culmination of almost three years of work by members of our project team,” said Kaj Christiansen, the project’s development manager.
“This is the first ever planning decision for any component of an offshore wind farm of scale in Ireland. It marks a significant step forward for the country, for our planning authorities and for industry as we work collaboratively to deliver offshore wind in Ireland at scale.”
The permission allows for the construction of a substation at Arklow River Business Park, and its connection to the national grid, including an underground cable route and associated infrastructure connecting the substation to the landfall point at Johnstown North, Arklow, where it will meet the planned sub-sea offshore cables connecting to the wind farm
