There are 6 ‘Phase 1’ windfarm applications which have been in progress over the last number of years. Read below for more details on each of the developments:
Updates on applications
Originally it was envisaged that decisions on the applications would be made within 18 weeks. However, in response to their applications, some developers have received requests for further information from the Board (now An Coimisiún Pleanála). Significant detail is required to satisfy these requests, with information due to be submitted the the Commission within specific time periods. The original deadlines by which An Coimisiún Pleanála were due to make decisions on the applications have been extended to accommodate these requests for further information.
Many of those who made observations made a request for an oral hearing to exchange views openly. These hearings would be likely to be scheduled after the developers supply the additional information.
Observations made by members of the public and prescribed bodies such as An Taisce are available to view online at the websites of the relevant local authorities e.g. Wicklow County Council & Dun Laoghaire County Council for the Dublin Array development, Fingal and Louth County Councils for the North Irish Sea Array application.
Arklow Bank Wind Park 2
Where: The Arklow Bank, 6 to 15 km from the shore.
The area of the seabed to be covered is approximately 27 km long and 2.5 km wide.
Planning Application Submitted to An Bord Pleanála: 6th June 2024
Public Consultation: Closed.
The Arklow Bank is categorised as an Annexe 1 ‘sandbank slightly covered by seawater all the time’ under the Habitats Directive. Consent was granted in 2002 to construct a wind farm on the bank. However, the development did not go ahead with just seven General Electric test turbines being erected in 2004. These are now obsolete and are being decommissioned.
In June 2024, SSE Renewables lodged an application with An Coimisiún Pleanála for construction of a much larger development, Arklow Bank Wind Park 2, comprising of up to 56 turbines, to be located significantly closer to shore than the original seven. Each turbine would comprise a foundation, tower, nacelle and rotor assembly. SSE also propose to erect one or two Offshore Substation Platforms and foundation substructures. Turbines would be connected with inter-array cabling and two offshore export cables would carry the power ashore.
In response to this application, a 56-page Request for Further information was sent to the SSE, with a deadline of January 2026 for the information to be returned to An Coimisiún Pleanála. That deadline has now been extended.
Serious concerns have been raised by local residents and others, who fear that the original seven turbines have disrupted the tidal flow around the sandbank, resulting in coastal erosion, especially at the southern end of Brittas Bay. Other concerns relate to the significant bird populations that occupy the bank, especially during the summer breeding season.
Dublin Array Windfarm
Where: Kish and Bray banks, <9km from Greystones and Howth Head and >10km from Dalkey.
Submitted to An Bord Pleanála: 10th March 2025
Repeat Public Consultation: Closed 24th September 2025.
German energy giant RWE and Irish company Saorgus have lodged an application to build a wind farm on/in the vicinity of the Kish and Bray sandbanks, sited less than 10 km from the Howth/Dalkey/Killiney/Greystones coastline. The proposed infrastructure would comprise 39 to 50 wind turbine generators on monopile or multi-leg jacket foundations with scour protection, extensive inter-array cabling with protection, an offshore sub-station platform and two sub-sea export cables to connect the wind farm to a proposed onshore connection at Shanganagh Cliffs. Proposed turbines would be up to 309.6m tall, with rotor diameter of 236 to 278 meters diameter.
Onshore electricity transmission infrastructure would include underground export cables that will go through the townlands of Shanganagh, Hackettsland, Ballybrack, Loughlinstown, Cherrywood, Glebe, Laughanstown, Carrickmines Great and Jamestown, Co Dublin.
The Operations and Maintenance Base infrastructure is proposed at St Michael’s Pier, Dun Laoghaire, where it is planned to demolish the existing single storey building and other aspects of the current pier structure and replace it with a three storey building to include an electrical substation, floating berth etc. For additional information, see the application documents.
This project would not only have a considerable environmental impact but would significantly alter the visual aesthetics of our unspoiled coastline, hemming in much of Dublin Bay, all of Killiney Bay and dominating the seascape across a wide area of the Dublin-Wicklow coast, south to Greystones. In combination with the proposed Codling Bank Wind farm, for which a planning application has already been submitted, the combined infrastructure would be clearly visible along the coast from Howth Head to Wicklow town.
While the currently proposed industrialisation of our coasts is a national issue, the impact of the Dublin Array would be especially significant to the local communities in these area, those who live in the area and use the sea on a daily basis.
Codling Windfarm
Where: Off the coast of Wicklow & Arklow
Submitted to An Bord Pleanala: September 2024
Codling Windpark is a proposed offshore wind farm approximately 13-22 kilometres off the County Wicklow coast, between Greystones and Wicklow Town. It is a 50:50 joint venture between French EDF Renewables and UK Fred Olsen Seawind. This would be Ireland’s largest offshore windfarm with 75 turbines, proposed to stand between 288 meters and 314 meters tall, higher than any existing wind turbine in the world. Were consent to be granted for this development, it would have significant detrimental effects on the biodiversity of the area. The Codling Bank, an Annex 1 ‘sandbank slightly covered by seawater all the time’, is an important inshore fishing area, is known to contain significant reef habitat, and is a feeding and foraging area for threatened bird species and cetaceans.
The application for this development was submitted by the developer in September 2024. The public consultation period is now closed but An Coimisiún Pleanála have reverted to the proposer requesting additional information. This information is to be submitted to the Commission early in 2026.
North Irish Sea Array (NSIA)
Application Submission Date:
7 June 2024 (planning application lodged with An Bord Pleanála)
Status: Further information requested by An Coimisiún Pleanála, due February 2026.
Details
Location:
Irish Sea, off the east coast of Ireland, spanning the maritime areas of County Dublin, County Meath, and County Louth 10. The proposed array area is north-east of Dublin, with the closest turbines about 13 km from the coast at nearest point. The project sea zone stretches roughly off the coasts of all three counties, from the mouth of the Boyne to Skerries in the North Irish Sea.
Developer:
North Irish Sea Array (NISA) Windfarm Ltd, a joint venture of Statkraft (Norwegian state-owned energy company) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), who are collaborating to seek consent to develop NISA.
Size & Scale:
35 to 49 wind turbines are proposed (design envelope options)
The wind farm is targeting around 500 MW of capacity (it secured a 500 MW contract in Ireland’s first offshore auction). The 49-turbine layout proposes using 290m high turbines, while taller turbines, 316m high, are proposed for the 35 turbine layout – both configurations aiming for a similar total output.
Turbine Height & Rotor Diameter:
The NISA turbines would be of a comparable scale to other east coast offshore applications. Turbine tip heights up to ~300 m are projected, each turbine similar in height to the Eiffel Tower. The exact rotor diameter isn’t stated, but such turbines typically feature rotor sweep in the order of 230–270 m.
Distance from Shore:
Approximately 13 km at the nearest point to land, located off the coasts of Dublin, Meath, and Louth. This means that the infrastructure would be particularly visible from Laytown, Gormanstown, Balbriggan and Skerries, Skerries being the town closest to the proposed wind farm.
Infrastructure Summary:
The North Irish Sea Array would consist of the offshore turbine array plus extensive supporting infrastructure. The project scope includes offshore infrastructure (the wind turbine generators, their foundations, inter-array cabling, and likely one or more offshore substations) and onshore infrastructure (grid connection facilities). Subsea power export cables would run from the wind farm to a chosen landfall on the east coast (exact landing point to connect into the onshore grid, at Bremore / Gormanston, as per the project plans). On land, a new onshore high-voltage substation and associated equipment would connect the offshore wind farm into the national grid. According to the project’s planning documents, the design encompasses an offshore layout of turbines and cables, a defined landfall location with horizontal directional drilling likely used to bring cables ashore, an onshore cable route, and a new onshore grid connection facility in the region. (The specific onshore grid tie-in point and substation site were outlined in the application but generally will be in an area capable of feeding the Dublin electricity network.) In summary, NISA’s infrastructure would include the offshore infrastructure and all necessary subsea export cables and onshore works to integrate ~500 MW of offshore wind power into Ireland’s grid.
Since this project was first mooted, the area in which the development is proposed has been given additional recognition as an internationally significant Important Bird Area by Birdlife International and a national designation as a Special Protection Area because of its importance for numerous sea bird species, particularly the Roseate Tern, Kittiwake, Red-throated Diver, Puffin, Cormorant, Brent Goose and Gannet. The proposed site is in close proximity to Rockabill and Lambay SPAs and overlaps the Rockabill to Dalkey Island SAC, designated for harbour porpoise and reefs. The three islands closer to Skerries are home to thriving sea bird breeding grounds and are protected under the NPWS. In addition, the area is a very important north-south fly zone for migratory birds from Strangford Lough, County Down and Bull Island, County Dublin.