North Channel Wind chiefs say their engagement with the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee at Stormont this week has provided them with renewed optimism for the project. The offshore wind project would see a number of floating wind turbines installed in the Irish Sea off the coast of east Antrim with a potential installed capacity of more than 1 GW of electricity, enough to power two thirds of Northern Ireland households and businesses.
Project director for North Channel Wind, Niamh Kenny says there are many hurdles to negotiate to get such a project approved and eventually operational.
“We were very impressed by the committee’s grasp of the situation and their acknowledgement of the series of factors which we have to consider including seabed leasing from The Crown Estate, increased resourcing for DAERA to manage such complex applications for the necessary marine licences, and the multitude of other challenges to be resolved,” she says.
“We look forward to engaging with the Infrastructure and Economy committees very soon as all three departments have direct decision-making responsibilities in such a large project.”
North Channel Wind’s project would catapult Northern Ireland towards its ambition to reach 80% renewable electricity, significantly reduce the region’s dependence on imported electricity and fossil fuels and also reduce carbon emissions equivalent to taking over 1.1 million mid-sized cars off the road over the wind farm lifetime.
North Channel Wind has made good progress so far in terms of consulting with coastal communities and the fishing sector, recently completed a two-year baseline study of birds and mammals for the site and will commence the Environmental Impact Assessment pending publication of the Strategic Environmental Assessment by DfE.
Benefits of the North Channel Wind project include economic growth through supply chain support, hundreds of new jobs in the renewable energy sector, from engineering and construction to operations and maintenance, significant reduction of Northern Ireland’s carbon footprint and moving closer to net zero, which is imperative to protecting our biodiversity and wildlife. The renewables industry can be a key partner in achieving ambitious biodiversity targets and enhanced energy independence and resilience.
The AERA Committee event was preceded by The Clean Revolution event held by RenewableNI at Stormont. The event was a great success and highlighted keys asks such as Timelines; accelerate Offshore Wind, Leasing Round; The Crown Estate to set a timely deadline; CfD; commit to a timeline for auction, Target; set the 1GW offshore wind target for 2032, Investment; maximise opportunities for NI and Consenting; clear timebound consenting process.
