Seven major offshore wind farms have been given the greenlight to apply for planning permission by the Irish Government.
It is hoped the projects, off the shores of Dublin, Galway, Louth, Meath and Wicklow, will help meet a national commitment to providing 3.5GW of wind energy in the next 10 years.
A GW is one million kilowatts - enough to power about 600,000 homes during peak time.