NISA

Offshore Wind Farm

NISA Offshore Wind Farm

The North Irish Sea Array, also known as NISA, is an offshore wind energy project being proposed off the coast of counties Dublin, Meath and Louth, bringing with it an opportunity to significantly contribute to the development of a clean, renewable energy future for this region.

This proposal is targeting a planning submission date in 2022 and once operational, would have the capacity to provide renewable energy for up to 500,000 homes.

This website provides information relating to NISA, including the incorporation of a considered approach to design along with photomontages of how the proposal would look when built. Information on this website, including the photomontages, will be updated as the project continues to develop and evolve.

Information on the ideas and concepts of this project during this early design and planning stage.

At the core of the design of the North Irish Sea Array wind farm is the innovative POD LAYOUT concept. 

The latest marine updates relating to this project.

Onshore surveys are being carried out to inform the design process of the NISA project.

As NISA will require cabling to connect to the existing electricity grid  system, we will be carrying out surveys to determine the exact location of existing services within public roads in certain areas.

These initial investigations are planned to commence on the 8th August 2022 and will take approximately two weeks to complete. No road closures are required and traffic management systems will be in place as we endeavour to minimise any inconvenience during these operations.

Survey Effort Overview

With geophysical surveys due to commence shortly, NISA has reached a critical milestone in its development. The surveys planned will provide information which will allow the project to develop a detailed understanding of the sea bed conditions which will inform the design of the project. These surveys are due to start towards the end of May 2022 and will continue throughout June. For more information, please see Marine Notice No. 27 of 2022 through the button below.

Surveys will be subject to weather conditions and a vessel called the Mercator will use various technologies to analyse the sea-bed such as multibeam echosounders, side scan sonars, magnetometers and sub-bottom profiling. The data will be used to inform indicative turbine location and potential cable corridors. The NISA project was granted a Foreshore Licence earlier this year which allows it to gather information and undertake preliminary site investigations to understand the conditions.

Statkraft has engaged an extremely experienced survey contractor to carry out these surveys, particularly in terms of carrying out surveys whilst sharing this marine space with the existing fishing operations. Throughout the surveys, Statkraft will continue to engage all those interested in the local and surrounding communities in the area. This includes extensive engagement with local fishing groups in Howth, Clogherhead, Skerries, Balbriggan, and surrounding areas.

From the earliest stages of this project, Statkraft has been committed to developing a project which would deliver successful coexistence with fisheries and support a sustainable local fishing community. During these surveys it will continue to work proactively towards this goal and promote continued sustainable fishing in the area.

If anyone has any queries please get in touch through our Contact Page.