Offshore Electricity Supply Sontract Awarded to Sceirde Project
Údarás na Gaeltachta welcomes offshore electricity supply contract awarded to Sceirde project, off Galway Gaeltacht coast and states it will work with local communities to ensure any developments will benefit Gaeltacht
Údarás na Gaeltachta have welcomed EirGrid’s decision to award an offshore electricity supply contract to the Sceirde project off the Carna coast in the Galway Gaeltacht.
Today’s contract was awarded to the offshore wind company Corio; the company will now apply for planning permission for the project. This is the first contract awarded for a wind energy project off the Atlantic coast of Ireland.
“This is good news for the Gaeltacht and very timely, in the context of the development currently underway at Ros an Mhíl Harbour” said Údarás na Gaeltachta Chief Executive, Tomás Ó Síocháin. “We welcome the development of the renewable energy sector in the Conamara Gaeltacht, a sector which will be extremely important to the west of Ireland in the coming years. Údarás na Gaeltachta will work closely with local communities to ensure that any developments being progressed will benefit the Gaeltacht community.”
Sceirde is a 450MW project and Corio have indicated that they wish to use Ros an Mhíl Harbour as a service hub for the windfarm.
A report commissioned by Údarás na Gaeltachta found that 900 jobs could be created in the Galway Gaeltacht in the wind energy sector, if Ros an Mhíl was developed as a hub for the industry.