News
Beacon Wind commences second year of surveys
Can green be even greener? The Emerald Project
Absolutely! And in the case of APEM’s client Simply Blue Energy Kinsale, it is in fact emerald!
Absolutely! And in the case of APEM’s client Simply Blue Energy Kinsale, it is in fact emerald!
The Emerald Project is a proposed floating offshore windfarm (FOW) in the Celtic Sea, off the south coast of Ireland. The joint venture company Simply Blue Energy Kinsale aims to develop a 1.3 GW floating windfarm, enough to power the equivalent of 1,043,000 homes.
This partnership combines the floating wind track-record and local knowledge of Simply Blue Energy with Shell’s offshore experience, floating wind expertise and an ability to develop large complex projects. The Emerald Project is a great example of the energy transition, located in the vicinity of the Kinsale gas fields, currently being decommissioned. This project will use state-of-the-art renewable floating wind-powered generators.
Floating wind technology can be installed in deeper waters than fixed wind turbines allowing this project to be placed 35km-60km offshore, greatly reducing visual impacts. Depending on the size of turbines selected, the first phase of the project will include circa 25 turbines. The assembly, installation and deployment of these turbines could create hundreds of jobs in the local supply chain. Long-term operations and maintenance of the turbines will also require local skills and services in Cork Harbour for up to 25 years.
To aid in the consent of this development, APEM have begun a programme of 24 monthly baseline characterisation surveys to identify marine and bird species, the results of which will support Emerald’s environmental impact assessments.
Captain Brian Fitzgerald, Director of External Affairs and Stakeholder Liaison, Simply Blue Energy:
“The Emerald Project is dedicated to making a significant contribution to the climate change agenda and economic development in Ireland. SBEK is delighted to work with APEM, considering their excellent track record.”
The surveys have been planned to use a best-in-class survey design approach using digital aerial surveys. The images captured using state-of-the-art cameras, are of ultra-high resolution (1.5cm resolution) providing industry leading image quality, essential for species level identification.
To find out more visit our aerial survey page or contact us, we’d be delighted to help you with your next environmental survey.
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