Oriel Wind Farm
Oriel Wind Farm is a proposed offshore wind farm in the northwestern Irish Sea. The project is associated with Oriel Windfarm Limited, a privately owned Irish renewable energy company.
According to a 2007 press release, the proposed farm is due to be located near Clogherhead, approximately southeast of Dundalk, County Louth, and approximately northeast of Drogheda. The farm takes its name from the ancient Kingdom of Oriel.
Environmental impact
Surveys and studies of the physical, ecological, and human environment at the proposed wind farm site were carried out from 2003. These included geotechnical assessments of the area and surveys of birds flying above the site.Planning
In 2007, the proposed developers suggested that if permission was obtained, "construction could commence as early as Autumn 2009". However, as of 2014, the project was on hold pending talks between the Irish and UK governments on exporting the electricity to the UK.In July 2015, the companies Oriel Windfarm and Gaelectric announced a proposed co-development of a 15MW demonstration project. The two companies suggested that the project, termed the North Irish Sea Array, had the potential to produce 870MW of electricity.
A planning application for the proposed Oriel project was submitted to An Bord Pleanála in mid-2024. As of August 2025, the development was one of three proposed offshore wind farms for which the planning authorities had requested "extensive extra information" on potential impacts to marine and bird life, rescue and commercial air traffic, tourism and coastal erosion. The developers were given "until next January to respond".