Rosslare Welcomes Offshore Wind Base

02 Jun 2020

Rosslare Europort has welcomed the announcement by Dutch company XELLZ that it is to establish an offshore wind supply base adjacent to Rosslare Europort.

XELLZ has secured approximately 200,000 sqm of land adjacent to Rosslare Europort which will be divided 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 Dutch company will establish an offshore wind supply base there to serve and support future offshore wind farms, bringing new energy to the region.

This will see Rosslare Europort become a hub for the delivery of turbines and other components for wind farm developments in the Irish and Celtic Sea, and will boost the port and the economy through the increased shipping resulting, and employment generated.

“This 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,” said Petrus (Peter) Bouwhuis, CEO of XELLZ B.V.

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 space offers ample storage and assembly areas to manage the wind turbines, transition pieces and mobilisation 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 emerging renewable energy market.

The Port of Rosslare will be ready to serve the Irish and the Celtic Sea as well as reaching the UK east coast and continental Europe where many OWF's are planned.

Glenn Carr , General Manager Rosslare Europort said “Rosslare Europort is ideally positioned to be the gateway for the development of Offshore Wind Energy in Ireland. We have the potential capacity, infrastructure and land to ensure that the Republic of Ireland has the right strategically placed port to facilitate the growth of this vital sector as we address environmental challenges in the years ahead. Offshore wind energy will play a vital role in ensuring that future emissions targets are met and it is critical that the right port marine and land infrastructure is put in place. Given Rosslare’s geographical position on the island of Ireland and the coastal area where offshore will develop it is difficult to argue against the port not being given the required support and resources to ensure Ireland has a port of choice to meet the future needs of the offshore wind energy market. It is also important to recognise the wider opportunities of jobs and rural development it will bring to Wexford and the wider region”

The news follows recent announcements at the port including the finalisation of the Masterplan for the port, the designation and build of a new Border Inspection facility in preparation for Brexit and the recently commenced new services with Brittany Ferries to Bilbao and Roscoff.