The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is developing the Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site (AMETS) to provide a full-scale grid-connected offshore renewables test facility. AMETS will form part of a national suite of infrastructural facilities set up to enable offshore renewable technology development and progression towards commercial viability. It is intended that full scale marine energy devices could be tested at their final stages of pre-commercial development at AMETS.
Since the AMETS site was announced in 2010 the development of the site has progressed with work on environmental assessments for the site (onshore and offshore), applications for grid connection, planning permission for the onshore component, foreshore license and consent applications. Originally intended to test wave energy converter devices, the focus of the test-site has shifted to floating offshore wind due to slower than anticipated development of wave energy technologies. The investment to date has been €6.86 million, including environmental surveys on both land and sea and grid connections. Funding in the form of an EU Interreg project called AFLOWT was secured in 2018 and that project is ongoing. The test site development is ongoing with an application for consent due to be submitted in Q1 2023 under the new Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, established in the Maritime Area Planning Act (December 2021). Onshore substation building works are also in preparation and due to commence in 2023. The aim is to bring the test site into service before the end of 2025. This ongoing development is based on stakeholder engagement and an Expression of Interest survey undertaken in 2021 by SEAI, highlight the continued interest in having a full-scale test site on the Atlantic coast. The AMETS project when operational, will facilitate testing in the unique conditions of the Atlantic (a harsh environment, high resource location), thus reducing investor risk and strengthening Ireland as a centre for Floating Offshore Wind (FOW), wave, hydrogen, and floating solar research in Europe.
