SSE Renewables' proposed Setanta Wind Park, formerly Braymore Wind Park, off the east coast of Ireland is progressing following the completion of a seabed survey at the proposed site by ocean data provider Xocean.
In September, a fleet of Xoean uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) completed a geographical survey of the seabed at the location for the planned 1GW wind farm off the coasts of Louth, Meath and north Dublin.
The survey utilised multi-beam echo-sounder sensors to map the area, and the results will be used to characterise the seabed in the area to provide the project team with a clearer understanding of the conditions on site.
Xocean has a global fleet of 25 USVs, which are remotely operated by a network of mariners and data analysts for real-time insights and faster data-processing while releasing one thousandth of the emissions of traditional survey vessels.
The company has since 2019 completed 70,000 hours of survey over 500 missions in 19 jurisdictions.
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This year alone, Xocean has delivered over 20,000 hours of carbon neutral uncrewed survey operations to offshore wind farms supporting the development of 21GW of new offshore wind capacity. The firm has doubled its headcount to over 200 people.
Commenting on the project, James Ives, CEO of Xocean, said: “Our mission is to deliver the data that powers the sustainable development of our oceans.
"Our aim is to do this in a safe, economic and ultra-low impact way. We are delighted to be working with SSE Renewables in Ireland, on this important offshore wind development project.”
SSE Renewables, part of the UK-listed SSE plc, is planning to double its installed renewable energy capacity to 8GW by 2026 treble capacity to over 13GW by 2031, increasing output to 50TWh annually, enough to power 20m homes each year.
In September, the nine North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) countries agreed to develop at least 260GW of offshore wind by 2050.
SSE Renewables is currently progressing a 3GW pipeline of offshore wind energy in Irish waters by 2030, including the 1GW Setanta Wind Park off the east coast.
Martin Sweeney, lead project manager at SSE Renewables, said: “We are constantly looking for innovative ways in which we can develop our portfolio of renewable assets. Xocean’s vessels will allow us to carry out our work in a more efficient way, and most importantly for SSE Renewables - in the safest, carbon neutral way possible.
"Completing this geophysical survey was a key milestone for Setanta Wind Park ahead of our Maritime Area Consent application which will be submitted to MARA next year.
"Securing this data puts us well on the way to delivering the 1GW Setanta project by 2030, and we’re really interested to see how this sort of work can help improve our industry, accelerate delivery and look forward to working with Xocean in future.”
The government has a target of establishing 7GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
Photo: (l-r) Andrea Phillips, chief commercial officer at XOCEAN, and Martin Sweeney, lead project manager at SSE Renewables.
