Belfast harbour plans £90m upgrade to serve wind energy projects
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Move is part of £300m investment that includes deepwater quay and building of hundreds of homes near city centre. Belfast harbour is to invest £90m to upgrade its port to serve a wave of wind energy projects and cruise ships as part of a £300m investment plan.
A new deepwater quay capable of supporting wind projects will be the largest part of an investment plan that also includes the construction of hundreds of homes at a site near the city centre. Belfast has previously hosted wind power installation companies. Between 2013 and 2018, Dong Energy, later renamed Ørsted, used it as a base to install windfarms in the Irish Sea. After those projects were installed, the area was given over to cruise ships.
Joe O’Neill, the chief executive of Belfast harbour, said he expected to see wind turbines in the city again in late 2027 or early 2028. Belfast had received “a lot of inquiries” from wind energy developers, he said. Belfast Harbour Commissioners, the non-profit trust that owns and runs the port, said 30 offshore windfarms planned within a 200km (125-mile) range of Belfast had a projected capacity of more than 30 gigawatts, enough to power 20m homes.
“The sector fell into a little bit of abeyance because there were no new projects,” O’Neill said. “There are a number of sites coming forward for the Irish Sea and the Republic of Ireland government. There’s a superb market opportunity.”. Belfast’s main existing rivals for the wind business would be Hull, on England’s east coast, and Mostyn, a much smaller port in Wales, O’Neill said.
