Displaying items by tag: South Irish Sea

26th January 2023

Marine Notice: Deployment of Marine Acoustic Devices for North Celtic Sea and South Irish Sea Offshore Wind Projects

Energia intends to deploy marine acoustic monitoring equipment off the coasts of Co Waterford and Co Wexford between now and 24 February, subject to weather and operational constraints.

The deployments are part of works for Energia’s North Celtic Sea and South Irish Sea offshore wind projects in these respective areas.

The North Celtic Sea is a renewable energy project proposed to be located a minimum of 10km and up to 25km off the Co Waterford Coast. The South Irish Sea project, meanwhile, is proposed to be located a minimum of 10km and up to 25km off the coasts of Wexford and south Wicklow.

Acoustic monitoring equipment will remain on site for a period of three to four months, weather window permitting. After this period the devices will be retrieved and redeployed at new locations, that will continue to cover a 12-month period.

The equipment consists of four acoustic devices and their moorings, which will be used to monitor for marine mammal activity in the proposed wind park areas.

Deployments in both areas will be conducted by the MV Sharp Shooter (callsign EI5069). As this vessel will be deploying survey equipment, it will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre. All other vessels are requested to leave a wide berth during the operations and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

The MV Sharp Shooter will be monitoring VHF Channel 16 and Working on VHF Channel 6. All operations will be during the hours of daylight only. Throughout survey operations, the vessels will be displaying the appropriate lights and shapes.

For more on the acoustic devices, their planned locations, relevant maps and contact details, see Marine Notice No 5 of 2023 and Marine Notice No 6 of 2023, attached below.

Published in Power From the Sea

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Marine Notice: Geophysical Investigation for South Irish Sea Offshore Wind Farm

Ocean Infinity is undertaking a geophysical site survey campaign for the South Irish Sea offshore wind farm from today, Thursday 14 July to 30 August 2022, weather allowing.

The survey works will be conducted on a 24-hour basis by the Northern Maria (callsign OZAV2) using a hull-mounted multi-beam sonar and sub bottom profiler, along with a towed side-scan sonar and piggy-backed magnetometer (tow max 320m) and ultra high resolution survey equipment.

During operations, the Northern Maria will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre and will display the appropriate day shapes and lights. All other vessels operating within this area are requested to keep their distance and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

Coordinates of the survey area and further details can be found in Marine Notice No 46 of 2022, attached below.

Published in Power From the Sea

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Offshore wind

ESB know the importance of offshore wind in tackling climate change and delivering net zero. Ireland has a unique capability given its prime location to take advantage of the potential of offshore wind. ESB are working hard to develop offshore wind projects for the benefit of everyone across society in Ireland and the UK. This includes ongoing engagement with marine users and local communities so ESB can deliver these significant projects.

Offshore wind will play a major role globally in our fight against climate change. It will help to replace energy generated by burning fossil fuels with that from a clean, safe and secure renewable energy source. Ireland’s geographic location on the exposed edge of the Atlantic presents us with a significant opportunity to generate electricity from wind – both offshore and onshore.

Power from onshore wind farms currently provide over one-third of Ireland’s electricity needs. But, whilst its marine area is many times the size of its landmass, Ireland’s offshore wind potential is only starting to be realised. ESB have a coastline stretching over 3,000km but only one operational offshore wind farm – Arklow Bank, with a capacity of 25 MW. In contrast, Belgium’s coastline is only 63km long, but it has already developed more than 2,000 MW of offshore wind. In Great Britain, with a coastline four times the length of ours, offshore wind generation now equates to over 440 Arklow Banks, with an installed capacity of 11,0000 MW as of late 2021.

The Irish Government's target to install 5,000 MW of offshore wind capacity in our maritime area by 2030 is set out in the Climate Action Plan 2021. It also has the objective to source 80% of Ireland’s electricity needs from renewables by the same year. In line with this, ESB is applying its professional and proven engineering expertise to the challenges set within the Climate Action Plan.

ESB are committed to playing a strong role in developing Ireland’s offshore wind potential for the benefit of the people of Ireland. This will be done in consultation with marine users and local communities, and with due care for the marine environment.