EirGrid Completes First Phase of Surveys at Ireland’s 900 MW Offshore Wind Area

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Irish transmission system operator (TSO) EirGrid has completed the first phase of marine and coastal surveys along Ireland’s south coast, which includes cable route corridor options from Maritime Area A, or Tonn Nua, offshore wind area of the Irish Government’s South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (SC-DMAP) .

The survey work is being carried out by Fugro as part of EirGrid’s Powering Up Offshore – South Coast project and under the TSO’s Offshore Marine Survey Framework, with subcontractors TechWorks Marine and Green Rebel conducting metocean and environmental surveys, respectively.

The work, which began in July 2025, covered geophysical, environmental and metocean surveys around potential subsea cable route corridor options in Maritime Area A, as well as intertidal non-intrusive landfall investigations.

Over the course of the 2025 campaign, the company surveyed 3,770 kilometres of seabed, involving more than 40,000 man-hours, with engagement from fisheries, industry and local communities, EirGrid said earlier this month.

Two metocean data buoys have been deployed and will remain on site until late 2026 to support offshore planning and environmental monitoring.

EirGrid said the data collected in 2025 will now be analysed, and further surveys, including geophysical, geotechnical and unexploded ordnance (UXO) investigations, are planned to take place in 2026.

“These surveys would not be possible without a huge amount of coordination and strategic planning of staff across EirGrid, our strategic partners, fishing communities and local landowners”, said Liam Ryan , Chief Transformation, Technology and Offshore Officer at EirGrid.