‘The waters around Ireland are set to become a major source of energy generation’

Green Rebel Marine, the Cork-based business set up to maintain offshore wind farms, has acquired a majority stake in marine data firm IDS Monitoring.

IDS Monitoring designs, manufactures and supports data acquisition systems that monitor key parameters offshore. Working together as a team since 1996, its proprietary technology has been deployed for use on hundreds of data buoys in over 30 countries.

The IDS Monitoring team joins the geophysics division, the aerial survey team, vessel operations and other Green Rebel Marine specialist groups “to provide a well-resourced, one-stop solution for detailed marine surveying off the Irish coast”.

Waters around Ireland to become major source of energy

Green Rebel Marine founder Pearse Flynn said: “Through our series of strategic acquisitions, Green Rebel Marine is now well-placed to meet the surveying needs of any provider looking to place power generation equipment offshore.

The acquisition of IDS Monitoring means that we continue to build a wholly-owned Irish solution, bringing together the best experience on the island to help undertake hugely detailed and precise survey work.

“I look forward to working further with the team at IDS Monitoring to develop and deploy their proprietary technology as Ireland looks towards a greener and more sustainable future.”

The waters around Ireland are set to become a major source of energy generation, and the quality survey work being undertaken by Green Rebel Marine is designed to “both protect that resource and harness its potential”.

John Wallace of IDS Monitoring said: “Last year, IDS Monitoring and Green Rebel Marine began discussions and from the outset, it was clear that there was a perfect synergy with aligned ambitions.

“We already deliver data on many marine projects in Ireland and abroad and with this new investment, we will very significantly build capacity and greatly expand our fleet of Floating Lidar Solutions.”

Plans for offshore wind farms are at an advanced stage

Thousands of square miles of ocean are due to undergo ecological assessment as part of the planning process for offshore wind farms. Green Rebel Marine recently announced the €1.5 million purchase of a DA42 multi-purpose aircraft to conduct aerial surveys off the Irish coast.

Plans for offshore wind farms are at an advanced stage with a number of potential fixed and floating operators examining sites along the coast from Dundalk in Co. Louth to the Cork coast and beyond.

Their construction will “not only increase Ireland’s ability to produce renewable energy, it will also create an entire new sector dedicated to servicing their operation”.

‘Best potential off the west coast of Ireland’

In response to queries by AgriLand at a recent plenary press briefing, Ireland South MEP Seán Kelly said he is glad that Ireland is reaching its “potential” for renewable energy development.

“For a number of years, Ireland was in semi-denial regarding climate change,” the MEP said.

We were endorsing targets, but we were making very little effort to meet them. When you set a target, you should make every effort to achieve it.

“Now we’re getting higher targets set at European level, but at least we have a government now that’s committed to it.

“For us in Ireland, the big and easy win for us is wind. When I came to the European Parliament in 2009, I remember having a map, which somebody put up on my wall, and it was about the potential for wind energy across Europe.

“I couldn’t believe it – the best potential was off the west coast of Ireland. Thankfully, we’re now beginning to develop that.

“We can make wind energy in Ireland twice or three times more efficient than wind produced in Germany and internally.”

‘People have not been given both sides of the equation’

He added that when it comes to onshore wind, “we must get the framework right”.

“Consultation with communities is vital because there is an awful lot of scaremongering going on. And if people feel that something is wrong, and is going to damage their environment and their health, then that must be addressed,” Kelly continued.

“Very few have actually addressed this question – what damage is being done to your environment by the use of oil and coal, as we’ve had up to now, as opposed to any damage that might be done by wind?

People have not been given both sides of the equation – developers in particular have an obligation to get that [information] out.

“Secondly, we have to speed up and simplify our planning laws. They are too archaic; they are too long-drawn out.

“If this government did nothing else only clarify that and also, a time-limit by which these things must be addressed, then we could have wind energy and especially offshore, which is going to be a huge benefit to us.”

Information clinics on Ireland’s largest offshore wind farm

A number of information clinics on Ireland’s largest offshore wind farm proposal are taking place in Wicklow this month (March).

Codling Wind Park is a proposed offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea, set in an area called Codling Bank, about 13-22km off the Co. Wicklow coast, between Greystones and Wicklow Town.

The public consultation period involves webinars and a virtual exhibition, which opened on March 1, and with information clinics taking place from March 15 to March 27.

The current expectation is that there would be a maximum of 140 turbines across 125sq/km of the site.