Shell takes majority stake in Irish floating wind farm venture

Shell takes majority stake in Irish floating wind farm venture

Shell has struck a deal to take a majority share in a planned floating wind farm off the coast of Ireland.

The oil and gas giant has acquired the 51% stake in the Western Star venture from Irish developer Simply Blue Group.

It follows a similar deal earlier this year between the pair to jointly develop the Emerald floating wind project.

Earmarked for off the coast of County Clare, the Western Star Joint Venture will be developed by Simply Blue Group personnel and Shell (LON: RDSA) floating wind experts.

The project office will be based at Simply Blue Group’s headquarters in Cork.

Designed to  harness the vast floating wind potential in the Atlantic Ocean, the pair intend to co-develop up to 1.35 gigawatts (GW) of floating wind capacity in total.

Between 300 megawatts (MW) to 450MW will be developed in the first phase, with between 700MW to 900MW to follow.

That’s the equivalent of powering over one million Irish homes.

Hessel de Jong, offshore wind general manager Europe at Shell, said: “Shell has a clear ambition to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society.

“We aim to provide more renewable power to consumers and businesses alike. Working alongside coastal communities to create shared value