A significant milestone on the road to kickstarting delivery of Ireland’s offshore wind targets has been reached as otice has been given of the intention to submit the planning application for the onshore grid infrastructure needed to connect an offshore wind farm to Ireland’s national transmission grid.
The application will be made in the coming weeks by SSE Renewables to Ireland’s planning board, An Bord Pleanála, seeking planning permission to develop the onshore grid infrastructure necessary to connect the 520MW Phase 2 of Arklow Bank Wind Park to Ireland’s electricity transmission grid. The proposed development includes a 220kV substation at Avoca River Business Park in Arklow, Co. Wicklow, with an associated transmission compound, connection compound and connection from the new substation to the existing national transmission network. The plans also include an underground cable route connecting the proposed substation to the landfall point at Johnstown North, Arklow, where it will meet the planned subsea offshore cables connecting to the wind farm.
SSE Renewables is actively developing Phase 2 of Arklow Bank Wind Park which will be located in a lease area situated six to 13km off the Co. Wicklow coastline, to the east of Arklow. The Arklow Bank Wind Park Phase 2 development is poised to become the country’s first offshore wind farm of scale as it aims to be generating power by 2025.