A consortium is hoping to build a £200 million wind farm, the largest in the history of the State, on the Kish bank, which lies about six miles off the Dublin coast.
The group has begun a feasibility study on the project and has submitted its proposals to the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods. The consortium consists of the ESB, PowerGen, the UK electricity group and Saorgus Energy Ltd, a Tralee-based wind energy company. A spokesman said the study would examine wind speeds on the bank, which lies to the south of the Kish lighthouse, to see if they were sufficiently powerful.
Mr David O'Connor, from the ESB's power generation business unit, said the group envisaged no "technical barriers to the project going ahead".
If the project receives approval in the form of a foreshore licence from Dr Woods, it would be a major advance for wind as a energy in the Republic. The consortium said the wind farm would produce up to 250 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power more than 200,000 homes. At 250 megawatts it would be capable of producing more electricity than many conventional power plants.
Dr Aidan Forde, a director of Saorgus Ltd, said other pieces of land scattered along the east coast could be used for similar projects. The company was examining these.
The Kish project would use up to 100 wind turbines which normally reach a height of 60 metres, with blades of about 30 metres long. It could take several years to complete as work would only be undertaken in the summer. The Kish bank, which is submerged for most of the year, is about 18 km long and more than 300 metres wide.
The turbines would be anchored in the bank and the consortium would then instal an underwater cable to carry the electricity back to shore.