Offshore wind farms are one of the key technologies for the future of large-scale renewable energy, the de-carbonisation of our societies and the urgent tackling of global climate change.
Available areas for onshore wind energy generation are becoming constrained for a number of reasons in many countries. Meanwhile, maritime regions are looking out to vast offshore areas with excellent wind resources that can be directly connected into large load centres.
The game-changer for offshore technology is the floating wind turbine, suitable for much greater depths than the current generation of turbines installed in shallow waters. This will open up literally thousands of square kilometres of ocean previously unfeasible.
The island of Ireland, with a marine territory more than 10 times its land mass, is in an enviable position to tap into this enormous resource, with the capacity to export electricity into the large population centres of Europe via a 'supergrid' around the continent.
Westwind is currently investigating potential areas for deployment of large-scale offshore wind installations around Ireland.
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