Wood, the global consulting and engineering company, has been awarded a pre-FEED (front-end engineering design) contract by Simply Blue Energy for a proposed floating offshore wind farm located off the west coast of Ireland.

The Western Star Floating Offshore Wind project aims to harness the vast wind power of the Atlantic Ocean to produce clean, sustainable energy for Ireland and beyond.

Andy Hemingway, President of Energy, Innovation and Optimisation at Wood, said: “We are delighted to be working with Simply Blue Energy on the milestone Western Star Floating Offshore Wind energy project.

“As an emerging technology, floating wind farms could supercharge the world’s renewable energy capacity and will be an important part of the global energy transition. Investing in this technology of the future will help Ireland reach its targets on greenhouse gas emissions in the fight against climate change.”

Wood’s team of cross-functional experts will assess the suitability of multiple floating platform designs against the site-specific criteria. By taking a lifecycle approach to costs incorporating capital expenditure, construction costs and operational costs, the team will develop a solution that enables the lowest levelised cost of energy (LCOE) to be identified.

Simply Blue Energy, part of the Simply Blue Group, is a leading Irish early-stage developer of transformative and sustainable marine projects. The company’s Western Star floating offshore wind farm is being developed in parallel with the company’s Saoirse wave energy conversion array, both employing innovative and cutting-edge technologies to produce zero-carbon electricity.