A Dutch energy company has revealed ‘game changing’ plans for the first offshore windfarms in Northern Ireland waters.
Floating windfarm specialists SBM Offshore are behind North Channel Wind which hopes to put 20-25 turbines 10-20km off the Antrim and North Down coast.
While still in its early days, the project’s director Niamh Kenny says NI is a “sweet spot” for floating windfarms because of high winds and low waves.
And that the £1bn project could help the region meet “ambitious” renewables targets by creating enough power for half a million homes by the end of the decade.
“It’s a very significant project,” she said at its launch in Belfast’s Titanic Hotel.
“Northern Ireland won’t be able to meet its electricity renewable target without offshore wind.
“The target is going to be increased to 80% - at the moment its 70% by 2030. It’s not going to be possible to achieve that without a wider energy mix.”
Niamh added: “Onshore wind has done a terrific job in terms of generating a lot of power for Northern Ireland, and solar as well, but without offshore wind and the scale of the projects in offshore wind it’s not going to possible to reach the ambitious targets.”
Niamh says floating windfarms also have far less impact on the environment than fixed ones and that existing projects have even been found to increase biodiversity in the surrounding area.
“The most important benefit is that it will be more environmentally benign that fixed bottom because there’s no piling so that means you avoid all of the seismic noise and the acoustic noise,” she explained.
“Eventually you can refloat them back - there’s no decommissioning issues - you are not left with structure in the seabed afterwards.”
As for the environmental impacts of the materials needed to build them, she said: “I think the carbon payback for offshore wind is less than six months.”
SBM Offshore’s fully owned subsidiary, North Channel Wind, has pinpointed two areas in the North and South Channels for the floating windfarms, away from shipping lanes.
The energy generated from the two proposed sites could feed a total of 400MW of power back into NI’s electricity grid.
Niamh said the firm needs permission from the Crown Estate, Environment and Infrastructure chiefs for the project, which they hope to finish by 2029.
And that they also hope to work with the communities and industries that may be impacted.
“We’ve been working for about a year,” she explained.
“What we have been attempting to do is try to find best, most appropriate site for the projects, which are close enough to the grid.
“The two potential grid connection points would be Ballylumford and Kilroot, so that’s dictated where the projects potentially would be.
“We’re now starting a scoping exercise which is basically methodology for your environmental impact assessment.
“We’re working with DAERA on that, which will lead to the application for a Marine License.
“The bit that we’re missing is the Crown Estate leasing round,” but she added “we’re hoping that the Crown Estate with Northern Ireland and put a leasing round in place in the next couple of years”.
Customer savings
While energy companies like North Channel Wind aim to produce clean energy “as cheaply as possible” they have no control of over whether those savings are passed on to customers.
Ms Kenny told the Mirror: “Our job is to make sure we can produce the electricity as cheaply as possible... how that will translate into final bills is unfortunately not a matter for the developers.
“It’s a matter for the regulator and the suppliers.”
