German energy company RWE has acquired Irish firm Western Power Offshore Developments for an undisclosed sum.
Western Power Offshore Developments is in the early stages of developing the East Celtic Wind Farm project, which is 10km offshore from Wexford and Waterford in Ireland. The East Celtic project will ‘significantly’ expand RWE’s offshore wind portfolio in the country.
Various decisions on the wind project are yet to be reached, including the overall size of the wind farm, turbine locations, cable routes and land-based developments. Consultations for the East Celtic project are expected to place next year. Depending on the agreed final installed capacity, the project could generate up to 900MW of clean energy.
In addition, the wind farm will also support RWE’s goal to expand its renewable power generation fleet worldwide to up to 50GW by 2030.
RWE Renewables Wind Offshore CEO Sven Utermöhlen said, “the acquisition of the East Celtic wind farm project is a significant step in the growth of RWE’s Irish offshore business; East Celtic is targeting inclusion in Ireland’s offshore Phase II round and could be invaluable in contributing to the Irish Government’s 80% renewable energy target by 2030. RWE is a global leader in the development of offshore wind, and we are excited about this next phase in Ireland’s renewable journey and look forward to expanding our team and working with stakeholders to advance the project.”
RWE is currently developing the Dublin Array wind farm project in partnership with Saorgus Energy. Located offshore from Dublin and Wicklow, the Dublin Array project will be capable of generating up to 600-900MW of electricity.
Last month, RWE won the bid to build the Hollandse Kust West VII project in the North Sea. The 700MW project is located around 53km from the Dutch coast and is one of the two designated sites in the 1.4GW HKW offshore wind farm zone.
Source: Power Technology