Vårgrønn, a joint venture between Eni’s Plenitude and HitecVision, has teamed up with Irish green electricity utility Energia Renewables to potentially deliver up to 1.8 GW of offshore wind projects in Ireland by 2030.
The partnership will initially focus on Ireland’s south and east coasts, where Energia Renewables have already completed extensive development work over the last four years at a 900 MW North Celtic Sea site and a South Irish Sea site of similar capacity.
Energia, which supplies over 20% of renewable electricity in Ireland, has already completed seabed surveys across the sites and commenced detailed preparations for the environmental impact assessments. Engagement programmes with local fisheries and communities are also in place and the partners said the work positions both projects to be capable of being operational by 2030, subject to government policy.
“We look forward to bringing Vårgrønn’s concentrated offshore wind expertise into the partnership and progressing projects together, building on the extensive development work already completed by Energia, said Olav Hetland, Vårgrønn CEO, adding: “Having strong local expertise is critical to successfully delivering projects that provide affordable power at scale and speed while contributing to local jobs creation. Energia’s long-standing local presence and track record with delivering a wide range of onshore renewable energy projects in Ireland, therefore makes them an ideal partner for us.”
The joint venture follows Ireland’s first offshore wind auction in June. The country currently has 25 MW of offshore wind capacity installed but aims for at least 37 GW of capacity by 2050.
