The project is jointly owned by RWE Renewables Ireland (formerly innogy Renewables Ireland) and Saorgus Energy.
Dublin Array’s upcoming public consultation will run from Wednesday October 7th to Friday November 20th. This is only one of the consultation activities we will be undertaking in advance of the project being constructed, if approved.
If constructed, it is estimated that Dublin Array could provide clean, renewable energy equivalent to the domestic needs of up to approximately 800,000 Irish households, depending on the final wind farm layout. It will help Ireland reduce our carbon emissions and enhance our energy security and reduce the need for imported fossil fuels.
Extensive environmental studies on the project area have been carried out over a number of years, in order to update the environmental baseline data, which will ultimately form an Environmental Impact Assessment Report. This Report will be the main element of a planning application for the project.
At this stage, Dublin Array wish to engage with local stakeholders to update them on the project and their ongoing environmental studies, and to gain their valuable feedback which they can then incorporate into the project plans.
On Wednesday October 7th they will be beginning a fresh round of public consultation which will allow them to engage with local stakeholders. The main element of this will be an online portal displaying a virtual exhibition room, in which all the information they had planned for in-person Open Days will be displayed. This portal will also include photomontages, images depicting the potential view of the wind farm from a number of locations along the coast. They will also have a dedicated phone line and email address through which people can contact them, and will be encouraging people to subscribe to their email newsletter. This will keep them up to date as the project develops.
In addition to these measures, they will be advertising in local media. They will also be communicating with a broad range of local stakeholders through the Local Authority Public Participation Networks across Dublin and Wicklow and through direct correspondence.
The online consultation has been designed with Covid19 in mind and to ensure that it does not put people at any additional risk of contracting the virus. It is their hope to hold public, face to face events, if and when it is safe to do so, in the future.
This is a non-statutory consultation. They will take the feedback from this consultation and integrate it into their Environmental Impact Assessment Report and the final design of the project.
It is their intention to lodge a planning application in mid-2021. At that point there will be a further opportunity for people to give their views on the project, this time on the final application.
Ultimately, they would like to start construction in 2024. For now, they are still designing their project and they look forward to hearing the views of the community.
Their online consultation will be available until Friday November 20th, and can be accessed via their project website, www.dublinarray.com. I would like to encourage you to take a look at the online consultation and to give them your feedback.
They would also be grateful if you would also share this website and details of the process with the members of the Fingal PPN.
Thank you for your time, if you have any questions please get in contact.