SSE has announced it is submitting an offshore planning consent application to Ireland’s planning authority, An Bord Pleanála, this week for the offshore infrastructure required for its proposed Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 project in the Irish Sea.
The planning application proposes the construction of up to 56 offshore wind turbines, depending on the final wind farm project design, located in an array area of around 63 km2 on and around the Arklow Bank off the Wicklow and Wexford coasts. Each turbine would be installed on steel monopile foundations. The offshore application also proposes two offshore substation platforms as well as associated export, inter-array, and interconnector sub-sea cabling that would connect the offshore wind farm to Ireland’s national grid at a cabling landfall point at Johnstown North, north of Arklow Town. Subject to planning consent and a final investment decision by SSE, construction of Arklow Bank 2 could commence as early as 2026, with the first energy generated by 2029.
