Displaying items by tag: SolarMarine Energy

15th February 2021

Irish Firm’s Floating Green Energy Solution One Step Closer to Fruition

Ireland’s first floating solar energy plant is another step closer to fruition thanks to funding from the Marine Institute.

Co Mayo-based SolarMarine Energy Ltd shared in the €2.4 million Industry-Led Awards scheme for research projects in 2018, putting its grant into the design of a floating solar energy structure to generate ‘green hydrogen’.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the company secured permission from the Port of Cork some 18 months ago to install a 1.5MW plant in Cork Harbour at Ringaskiddy.

However, there is currently no official recognition of the company’s innovative concept within marine planning legislation.

This remains “an obstacle to obtaining a foreshore license for the development of floating solar projects”, as the final report into the project states.

Eamon Howlin, CEO of SolarMarine Energy, says: “The floating solar industry is only emerging in Europe having been established in Japan in 2014, and has a projected market value of over $1 billion by 2023.

“Thanks to our collaborative study in partnership with the Marine Institute and University College Cork, SolarMarine Energy Ltd are playing an important part in this developing industry.”

Dr Paul Leahy of the Science Foundation Ireland MAREI Centre at University College Cork (UCC) added that permission for a prototype at Ringaskiddy “would allow SolarMarine and UCC to capitalise on the design work undertaken under the Marine Institute-funded project, and bring the SolarMarine floating solar concept closer to market”.

Published in Power From the Sea

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Forty Foot Swimming Spot on Dublin Bay

The 'Forty Foot' is a rocky outcrop located at the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove, County Dublin from which people have been swimming in the Irish Sea all year round for 300 years or more. It is popular because it is one of few spots between Dublin city and Greystones in County Wicklow that allows for swimming at all stages of the tide, subject to the sea state.

Forty Foot History

Traditionally, the bathing spot was exclusively a men's bathing spot and the gentlemen's swimming club was established to help conserve the area.

Owing to its relative isolation and gender-specific nature it became a popular spot for nudists, but in the 1970s, during the women's liberation movement, a group of female equal-rights activists plunged into the waters and now it is also open to everyone and it is in the control of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Many people believe that swimming in extremely cold water is healthy and good for the immune system.

Is it safe to swim at the Forty Foot?

The Forty-Foot is a great place to swim because there is always enough water to get a dip but like all sea swimming, there are always hazards you need to be aware of. For example, a lot of people like to dive into to the pool at the Forty-foot but there are submerged rocks that can be hazardous especially at low water. The Council have erected signs to warn people of the underwater dangers. Other hazards include slippy granite cut stone steps that can often be covered with seaweed and of course marine wildlife including jellyfish that make their presence felt in the summer months as do an inquisitive nearby Sandycove seal colony.