Arklow Bank Wind Park

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Ireland's first offshore wind project, the Arklow Bank Wind Park in the Irish Sea, is now in operation. Installation of the project’s seven GE 3.6-megawatt machines, was completed in only nine weeks. Located around 10km off the coast of Arklow, Ireland, this is the world's first commercial application of offshore wind turbines over three megawatts in size. The project is being co-developed by Airtricity and GE Energy.

Phase 2 of the Arklow Project was being developed in partnership with Acciona Energía (formerly EHN) of Spain. The development was to consist of a further 193 turbines. The connection to Eirgrid was cancelled in 2007^[1] Airtricity seems to be concentrating on onshore wind and has complained that offshore wind does not receive the same subsidies as land-based wind farms. There have also been issues with breakdowns of the turbines - GE have since withdrawn from the offshore wind turbine business having no reliable turbine available.

[edit] References

• airtricity. Retrieved on Dec 8, 2006.