The Sceirde Rocks wind farm proposed for off the coast of Connemara is not going to go ahead, despite a planning application for the €1.4 billion development being submitted to An Bord Pleanála recently.
The proposed development of 30 fixed-bottom turbines off Carna, Co Galway, in a scenic coastal location, raised concerns about their proximity to the coastline, though it was welcomed by other groups as a significant economic investment in the region.
Corio Generation had committed to a €70 million community fund over 20 years. The wind farm was one of the six offshore projects in the planning system, and on which Ireland is relying to meet its 2030 climate targets. Four of the projects won State contracts to deliver renewable energy to the national grid.
Being built by Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta, the Connemara development was due to install turbines more than 300 metres tall, located 5km to 11.5km off the coast. It was designed to generate 450 megawatts – enough to power 350,000 homes and avoid 550,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in emissions every year.
David McWilliams: ‘I’ve never seen anything like this economic chaos. Buckle up’
My grandfather died by suicide. I work in the same Irish university where he taught history
Government plans to quickly remove citizenship from convicted terrorist
Contraceptive concerns: ‘When I came off the pill, everything became so much better’
The news website The Currency reported that sources close to Corio Generation had indicated recent survey work had meant it was not in a position to proceed.
The company, owned by Macquarie Asset Management, has not responded to a request for confirmation from The Irish Times but it is understood that Corio has been in contact with the Government to confirm it is not going ahead.
Earlier this week, however, Corio Generation said it plans to restructure its offshore wind development business to focus on a smaller portfolio of projects.
A spokesperson said: “Given challenging market conditions in the offshore wind sector, Corio Generation is refocusing its global operations to prioritise the development of a smaller portfolio of projects which have the clearest route through to construction.
“This will also require a restructure of the organisation to reflect that change in strategy. We are discussing this with our project partners and staff who may be affected by these changes.”
The Currency quoted a source close to the project, who said: “We are positive about Ireland’s offshore wind opportunity. However, more detailed site investigation work and studies over recent months have made it clear that specific conditions and engineering challenges at the Sceirde Rocks site mean we are unfortunately no longer in a position to proceed with the project. We are discussing our findings with the Government.”
It understood recent site explorations over the past six months had contributed to the developer’s decision to discontinue development of the Sceirde Rocks site. The additional complexities have led to concern that an offshore wind farm on the Sceirde Rocks would not be resilient to extreme weather events.
These conditions included additional complexity in relation to partly submerged rocky areas off the coast and the seabed geology; severe wave patterns as a result of the seabed topography; extreme wave height during recent winter storms (including waves of up to 23 metres) and unusually strong seabed currents during those storms.
These problems were not detected earlier in the project’s development, it added, as they manifested for the first time during storms this past winter.
Elin Payne of Conamara Coastal Protection welcomed the withdrawal of the project. “The cancellation of Sceirde Rocks offshore wind farm would seem to confirm that inappropriate site locations, chosen by developers without ecosystem-based marine spatial planning as per Irish and EU environmental law, jeopardises the public mandate for much-needed secure and sustainable offshore renewable energy,” she said.
An online petition against the plans secured more than 4,000 signatures, the main concerns being the size of the turbines and their proximity to the coast with nearest point at Carna.
[ Campaign opposing large wind farm at Sceirde Rocks in Connemara being scaled upOpens in new window ]
Last year, Macquarie started looking for buyers for Corio Generation. In December, Corio announced job cuts globally but these did not affect the Ireland-based staff.
On April 8th, Reuters reported that Macquarie had cancelled the sale due to lack of interest from the market.
The global market for wind power, especially offshore, has changed in the wake of US president Donald Trump’s strong opposition to renewables. Uncertainty around tariffs, rising construction costs and a globally challenging supply chain have squeezed offshore wind developers operating in most parts of the world with the notable exception of China.
The project won a contract in the first Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme auction in June 2023 and entered into an agreement with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications to supply energy to the national grid at a state-guaranteed price for a period of 20 years.
Sources pointed out to reNEWS this week that many of the challenges were known for what is considered the toughest logistically of the Phase 1 schemes.
Corio had been exploring gravity base foundations, similar to the ones at the Fecamp project off France to unlock the project
It is not unusual for developers to decide at this point not to proceed with projects though they may have won State contracts or submitted them for planning.
The Corio project involved cabling on the seabed to deliver power to the Shannon estuary from where it could access the grid.
The six projects in the offshore pipe involved an investment of some €10 billion which, if given the green light, would have delivered 4.5 gigawatts (GW) of power by decade end or soon after – almost meeting the Government’s 4.5GW target for 2030.
