In order to provide residents of Dublin and Wicklow with the opportunity to find out about the proposed Dublin Array Offshore Wind Farm, an online virtual public exhibition platform has been launched on the project website www.dublinarray.com.
Dublin Array offshore wind farm, a joint venture between RWE Renewables Ireland and Saorgus Energy, with RWE leading the development, is located on the Kish and Bray Banks, approximately 10km from the coastline of Dublin and counties Wicklow and Dublin. These are naturally occurring sandbanks which the east coast commercial shipping routes avoid due to the shallowness of the water thereby presenting a location for potential development. Proximity to Dublin, which is the major electricity demand centre, means that the project can be a significant source of renewable electricity for the city and the surrounding region.
Peter Lefroy, Dublin Array Project Director, said: “I am delighted to be able to share the most up-to-date project information, including photomontages, of the proposed site but disappointed that unfortunately, due to Covid-19 public health restrictions, the public exhibition has had to move from a planned face-to-face information and informal consultation event to an online platform. This information platform provides comprehensive details about the proposed offshore wind farm, on-going activities, potential community and business benefits and the timeline moving forward.
“We have not yet submitted a planning application for Dublin Array. We hope the information on the portal provides a platform for us to have a meaningful exchange of information with local communities and understand any issues or concerns people have. The provision of the information platform and a range of contact details the public can use to informally engage with us, is because their views matter to us.
“In addition, we are using a specialised communications tool called Give My View to engage on social media with community members. While browsing Facebook and Instagram over the next few weeks residents may come across a Give My View advertisement inviting them to respond to some questions about green energy and the proposed Dublin Array Wind Farm. Your views matter to us so I would urge community members to respond.”
Available to view on the project website www.dublinarray.com is the turbine layout plan, photomontages outlining the potential view from a variety of popular coastal locations, as well as other project-related information as well general offshore wind related videos. The exhibition will be available on the project website www.dublinarray.com from Wednesday 7 October 2020.
Dublin Array Wind Farm team members will be on hand at the end of the telephone during office hours and via email to answer questions and to listen to the public’s comments.