XELLZ has secured approximately 200,000 square meters of land at the Port of Rosslare in the Republic of Ireland, to establish an offshore wind supply base.
XELLZ has divided the land into zones and the entire area will be known as Rosslare Europort Business Park (EBP).
Through its offshore services subsidiary 24shore and XELLZ Ireland, the company will establish an offshore wind supply base there to serve and support future offshore wind farms, bringing new energy to the region.
The EBP area has been divided into five different zones which are all situated alongside the new planned access road to the port. The land adjoins the port area, with direct access to the quay, and will be used for offshore supply base operations including pre-installation assembly and mobilization.
“Today marks the real beginning for this development to serve the future offshore wind farms in the Irish and Celtic Sea. EBP’s land gives direct access to the quay for loading and offloading of offshore wind equipment, and we are now ready to talk to interested parties.”
Petrus (Peter) Bouwhuis, CEO of XELLZ.
The Europort Business Park will become a hive of activity where businesses directly related to the upcoming offshore wind farms (OWF’s) can establish themselves, the company noted. The space offers ample storage and assembly areas to manage the wind turbines, transition pieces and mobilization equipment. For the future, there is also space available for small to medium enterprises (SME’s) interested in providing maintenance, operational, and repair services to this renewable energy market.
The Irish government has set out the country’s clear commitment to reduce carbon emissions with offshore wind expected to play a part. In July 2019 it adopted a Climate Action Plan which specifies, a plan for renewables to provide 70% of electricity generation by 2030. Offshore wind is expected to deliver at least 3.5 GW in support of reaching this target.
At the beginning of December 2019 the Irish Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment announced details of the first Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) auction, which has received government approval. The RESS is an auction-based scheme which invites renewable electricity projects to bid for capacity and receive a guaranteed price for the electricity they generate. Subject to state aid approval, the first auction is set to open this year.
