Simply Blue Energy Launches the Western Star Floating Offshore Wind and Wave Energy Project
04.03.2021
Simply Blue Energy, part of the Simply Blue Group, the leading Irish early-stage developer of transformative and sustainable marine projects, is announcing Western Star, a proposed co-developed floating offshore wind farm and wave energy conversion array off Ireland’s West Coast. The project intends to utilise the vast power of the Atlantic Ocean to produce clean, sustainable energy for Ireland and beyond, while pioneering cutting-edge technologies and leading the way in the global energy revolution.
Western Star Wind, ‘Project Ilen’, named after a working sailboat with connections to Shannon Foynes, is a 1.1GW floating offshore wind project located at least 35km offshore Co. Clare. Project Ilen is the leading floating wind project on the west coast of Ireland.
Western Star Wave, ‘Project Saoirse’, named after a sister vessel to Ilen, also built in Baltimore West Cork, is a pre-commercial demonstration wave energy conversion project located 4-6km offshore Co. Clare, starting with 5MW of capacity. Project Saoirse is a world leading wave energy project utilising the vast wave energy resource off Ireland’s west coast. Simply Blue Group is working with CorPower Ocean and EIT Innoenergy to develop the Saoirse project.
Sam Roch-Perks, MD of the Simply Blue Group said, “Ireland’s development of floating wind sites continues and we are delighted to be introducing wave energy to the energy mix. We believe that the combination of the two technologies will deliver significant system benefits to help economies move to net zero. It is fantastic to see Ireland lead the way on this approach”.
Preliminary Front End Engineering Design (Pre-FEED) and offshore survey activities have been initiated in parallel with continued stakeholder engagement activity. A key theme throughout the development of the Western Star project has been the leveraging of Irish supply chain expertise in the development of the project.
A foreshore site investigation license application has been submitted in December 2020.
A dedicated project website was launched in December 2020 and interested suppliers and stakeholders are encouraged to contact Simply Blue Group through the website: https://westernstarmarine.com/