FT, along with our partners, MarineSpace and Intertek, were appointed to develop a full Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EAIR) to examine the potential impacts of the proposed development on the surrounding environment including sea, land and wildlife. The appraisal to be set out in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report will look at the full project lifecycle from site investigations to construction and right through to operation and eventual decommissioning of the wind farm.

As well as having responsibility for developing the EIAR, FT have responsibility for managing planning and consenting process associated with both the onshore and offshore elements of the project.

Shelmalere Offshore Wind Farm is the name chosen for DP Energy and Iberdrola’s offshore wind development opportunity off the coast of Counties Wicklow and Wexford. The project will have a potential capacity of up to 1,000 MW (1 GW) and is likely to be constructed in stages.

An application for a Foreshore Licence was submitted to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in November 2020 in order to obtain the necessary permissions to investigate the foreshore area.

In addition to the Foreshore Licence Application for investigations within 12NM, both aerial and landfall surveys for the cable and wind farm area commenced in April 2021 to capture the full Spring season necessary for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

In 2022 FT prepared the EIAR Scoping Report for the project and lead the first round of technical consultation with various technical consultees. The EIAR Scoping Report sets out the proposed scope of and methodology for use in the preparation of the future EIAR for Shelmalere Offshore Wind Farm.

The EIAR Scoping Report can be viewed online at the project website.