Belgium-based offshore wind farm developer Parkwind has agreed an investment to become a strategic partner in the proposed 330MW Oriel offshore wind farm project in the North Irish Sea.
Located 22km off the coast of Dundalk, the Oriel wind farm will consist of 55 6MW turbines and will supply energy to more than 250,000 homes, Oriel Windfarm Ltd., the developer of the project, said.
The partners now plan to fast-track the project and finalize the construction of the wind farm by 2020, Oriel Project Director Peter Caluwaerts said.
“To achieve such ambitious timeline, we will immediately invest in the development of the wind farm and set up a full-scale project team, consisting of our own experienced people from Parkwind on the one hand and dedicated Irish professionals on the other hand,” Caulwaerts said.
After starting up the 165MW Nobelwind wind farm in May , Parkwind expressed its ambition to construct and operate wind farms outside its domestic market, and has made the first step with the acquisition of Oriel.
Including the 330MW from Oriel wind farm, Parkwind plans to have more than 1GW of offshore wind production operating by 2020.