Survey on schedule at Arklow Bank 2

The Ireland-based Alpha Marine is set to kick off a reconnaissance survey at the Arklow Bank Wind Park Phase 2 located off the Wicklow coast in the Irish Sea.

The goal of the survey is to provide background information to inform future site investigation works for the 520 MW project.

Works, which will include magnetometer surveying, are planned to start this month or in October and will take approximately three days, weather depending.

The survey activities will be undertaken by the crew transfer vessel (CTV) AMS Panther, which will be operating 12 hours per day.

Arklow Bank 2 will be located in a lease area located 6-13 kilometers off the Wicklow County coastline, to the east of Arklow.

A few months ago, SSE presented details of its plan for an operations and maintenance (O&M) base for the 520 MW offshore wind project.

This phase 2 development builds on the existing seven-turbine 25 MW Arklow Bank Phase 1, which SSE co-developed with GE Energy in 2004 as a demonstrator project.

Arklow Bank Phase 1 is Ireland’s first and only operating offshore wind farm and Arklow Bank 2 is set to become the country’s first offshore wind farm of scale, aiming to start producing electricity by 2025.