Ireland’s Ministry for the Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE) has issued a request for tender for a metocean survey campaign at the Lí Ban offshore wind area within the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (SC-DMAP).
According to a notice published on a European tender website, the contract is valued at EUR 1.5 million, and the deadline for the submission of tenders is 15 January 2026.
The South Coast DMAP for offshore renewable energy was approved by the Oireachtas in October 2024. The first of the four sites within the plan, the 900 MW Tonn Nua off the coast of County Waterford, was secured by a joint venture between ESB and Ørsted in November.
The remaining three sites are Lí Ban, also off the coast of County Waterford, and Manannán and Danu, both located along the south coast of County Wexford.
Lí Ban (the Mermaid Saint) covers an area of 486 square kilometres, with distances to shore varying between 49 kilometres along the western boundary and 29 kilometres along the northern boundary. The site has a mean water depth of 71 metres, with a minimum water depth of 66 metres and a maximum water depth of 76 metres, giving an overall range of 10 metres, according to information available on the Irish government’s website.
The site will be awarded through Ireland’s next ORESS auction, ORESS 2.2, and is said to potentially accommodate a wind farm of between 1.1 GW and 1.5 GW.