Offshore wind platforms

North Atlantic is a wild exacting place

Sir, – The article on offshore wind generation (”Offshore wind sector in Atlantic region could support 5,000 jobs by 2037″, October 29th) is very encouraging.

A report was commissioned by stakeholders as to gross value added (GVA) annually to the Atlantic region. Government’s target is for 7 gigawatts by 2030 rising to 30 gigawatts of power generation in the following years. This power generation giving rise to some 5,000 permanent jobs and hundreds of millions of euro in GVA.

I wonder, are these numbers aspirational or do they have some solid facts behind them. The north Atlantic is a wild exacting place and floating platforms supporting wind turbines are still in their infancy with many problems concerning the anchorage of mooring lines, the strain on those mooring lines and the flexibility of the turbines themselves against the incredible power of the waves.

Could we hear from engineers if floating platform turbines are feasible in the Atlantic and the timescale involved?

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– Yours, etc,

DENNIS HAWKE,

Letterkenny, Co Donegal.