AFLOWT comprises a €31 million ambitious four-year floating offshore wind project in the West of Ireland. Subject to consenting, it is planned that a full-scale floating wind turbine be deployed for testing off the west coast of Ireland at a Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) AMETS test site near Belmullet, Co Mayo.

The project is led by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) working in partnership with SEAI, SAIPEM, ESB and multiple other European organisations.

Funding for the project has been secured from Interreg North West Europe to accelerate the uptake of floating offshore wind. The project will demonstrate the survivability and cost-competitiveness of a floating offshore wind technology. It will also support the development of an active supply chain in the region which has some of the strongest wind and ocean resources in the world. The project is the first of its kind at such scale to draw on expertise from right across Europe.

The SAIPEM offshore wind floater, proposed for deployment for AFLOWT, is a pendulum lightweight structure including a submersible floater element.

ESB is supporting the consenting and environmental assessments for the project and will work closely with SEAI on delivering the project.

SIRO is a joint venture between ESB and Vodafone, with both established operators investing €450 million in building Ireland's first 100% fibre-to-the-building broadband network.

The innovative service offers speeds from 200 Mbps to 1000 Mbps to 500,000 premises in 50 regional towns, revolutionising the broadband market in Ireland. SIRO is unique in that it exclusively offers a wholesale open access network meaning that it will be available to all telecoms operators in Ireland to resell to their customers. SIRO in not a retail product.

For more Information on SIRO, click here.

ESB and Bord Na Mona jointly developed the Oweninny Wind Farm in North Mayo. The wind farm - which came into commission in late 2019- has 61 turbines with a combined generating capacity of 172 MW. It generates enough renewable electricity to power over 100,000 households a year.

ESB and Equinor

ESB has entered into a partnership with Equinor, a Norwegian-based energy company to identify suitable sites for new offshore windfarms in Irish waters and work to mature potential future wind projects. The potential for energy storage technology and other technologies to complement offshore wind operations will also be examined.

It is the ambition of the partnership to explore opportunities for large scale wind projects towards commercial operation by 2030, thus contributing to the wider goals of the Irish Government on energy transition. Fore more information, click here.

ESB and Parkwind

Parkwind and ESB have reached an agreement to kick start the offshore wind generation industry in the Republic of Ireland through ESB’s acquisition of up to 35 per cent in the Oriel project.
The Oriel project, located in the Irish Sea off the coast of Dundalk, has a capacity of up to 330MW and is planned to begin commercial operations in the early-2020s.  
Once operational, the Oriel Windfarm will generate enough capacity to cover the needs of approximately 280,000 households - most of the population in counties Louth and Meath. Oriel will furthermore contribute to the reduction of Ireland’s carbon emissions by 600,000 tonnes per annum.

ESB and Parkwind will also work together on the Clogherhead project for which ESB holds a foreshore license to commence site investigations. Parkwind will acquire up to 35 per cent of the Clogherhead project which is intended to be developed as a unique development, under a separate planning application.

For more information, click here.

Development of Neart na Gaoithe wind farm

 ESB has acquired a 50 percent stake in the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm project from EDF Renewables. 
NnG has a capacity of c. 450 megawatts of low carbon energy and will offset over 400,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year. Construction of components is now underway, offshore construction will start in June 2020 and full commissioning will complete in 2023. For more information, click here.