ESB’s 2040 Strategy
Since our establishment in 1927, ESB has been committed to driving society forward and delivering a brighter future for our customers and communities. This strong sense of purpose is reflected in our unwavering commitment to tackling some of the biggest challenges we face as a society, including climate change.
Electricity has a transformative role to play in tackling climate change. It can reduce carbon and other harmful greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector.
In ESB we will focus our efforts on the areas where we can make the biggest impact – creating and connecting sustainable, reliable, affordable electricity – and supporting the customers and communities we serve to achieve Net Zero.
Offshore Wind
ESB is developing a portfolio of offshore wind projects around the UK and Irish coastlines.
These will play a key role in combatting the worst effects of climate change, while also helping ESB achieve our goal of Net Zero by 2040.
Electricity is generated by two main types of installation. In shallower waters, fixed installations are deployed, whereby the wind turbine generator is secured to the seabed by a fixed foundation structure. In deeper waters, floating installations can be deployed, where the wind turbine generator is installed on a floating platform that is secured to the seabed by an anchoring and mooring system.
As floating wind technology matures, it will enable future wind farms to be placed further out to sea.
In the sections on the right we share some information about two floating wind projects that are currently under development in Scottish waters.
Projects in Focus: Stoura Offshore Wind
Stoura Offshore Wind is located around 40 km off the east coast of Shetland, in an area of seabed identified in the Scottish Government’s Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind. The lease option for Stoura was awarded to ESB in 2022 by Crown Estate Scotland through the ScotWind process.
ESB is now working to develop the floating wind farm. Once operational, Stoura Offshore Wind will produce up to 500MW of clean electricity. The project will make a significant contribution towards the decarbonisation of the UK energy sector and will play an important role in transforming Shetland into a regional renewable energy hub.
Stakeholder Engagement
ESB will endeavour to engage across the communities proximate to these projects in the coming months, including with all marine stakeholders and supply chain representatives.
We hope to provide open opportunities for collaboration and for you to learn more about ESB’s projects.
Projects in Focus: Malin Sea Offshore Wind
In March 2023, ESB welcomed the outcome of Crown Estate Scotland’s latest seabed leasing process which resulted in the offer of exclusive development rights to ESB for a floating wind project in Scottish waters roughly equidistant between the island of Islay and the north coast of Northern Ireland. The successful project, Malin Sea Offshore Wind, will deliver 100MW of floating offshore wind capacity.
The project team is currently engaged in early stage planning, with commencement of offshore marine surveys planned to take place in summer 2024.
The initial surveying phase should consist of deployment of a small number of marine environment monitoring buoys, along with a vessel for geophysical (non-intrusive) surveying activities.
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