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Fieldfisher advises on Shell floating wind partnership

Fieldfisher Ireland has advised Simply Blue Energy on a milestone agreement with Shell New Energies, the renewable energy trading, generation and supply arm of global oil and gas company, Shell.

Under the agreement, Shell will acquire 51% of a Cork-headquartered early-stage developer of transformative and sustainable marine projects, Simply Blue Energy.

That business’s Kinsale venture was set up to develop the Emerald project, a floating wind farm in the Celtic Sea, off the south coast of Ireland.

Joint venture

The new joint venture will be operated by Simply Blue Energy supported by Shell floating wind experts, with the project office based in the Cork City Docklands rejuvenation area.

The partnership combines Simply Blue's track-record in developing floating wind projects and local knowledge of the Celtic Sea environment with Shell’s offshore experience, floating wind expertise and ability to develop large complex projects. 

Floating wind farms benefit from offshore wind speeds, which are typically faster and steadier than on land, without many of the attendant construction and maintenance challenges associated with building fixed offshore structures.

Floating wind technology can also be installed in deeper waters than fixed wind turbines, meaning the Emerald project can be situated 35-60km offshore, reducing visual impacts.

Depending on the size of turbines selected, the first phase of the project will include between 15 and 25 turbines.

The Emerald Project, which will use state of the art floating wind-powered generators and have an initial installed capacity of 300 MW, will be located in the vicinity of the Kinsale gas fields, which are currently being decommissioned.

The project is seen as an important "stepping stone" to enable Ireland to reduce its carbon emissions and help ensure the Irish government meets its climate target of 5GW of offshore wind by 2030.

Deal

The deal is the second partnership with a major oil and gas company on which Fieldfisher Ireland has advised Simply Blue.

In March 2020, the Dublin team acted for the company on its JV with energy industry titan Total to develop floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea off the Welsh coast.

Commenting on the agreement, Feilim O'Caoimh, corporate partner and head of Fieldfisher's Dublin renewables team, said: "We are delighted to have closed another significant transaction for Simply Blue Energy, which has emerged as one of the leading developers of floating wind projects in the world.

Next generation 

"Floating wind farms are the next generation of wind technology and should support the accelerated deployment of wind turbines.

"The participation of major global energy companies in these projects and the role played by end-of-life oil and gas installations is a shining example of the energy transition in action.

Feilim was supported on the transaction by corporate partner Elaine Traynor and solicitor Jamie Woodcock.