EirGrid, the electricity Transmission System Operator (TSO) for Ireland, has successfully completed its 2026 marine and coastal survey campaign for the Powering Up Offshore – South Coast programme, marking another important milestone in the development of the electricity grid infrastructure needed to connect offshore renewable energy from Ireland's south coast to homes, businesses and communities.
Building on the successful 2025 survey programme, the 2026 campaign involved extensive marine and coastal investigations across the study area. Survey teams completed almost 70,000 hours of work, covering 2,337km of maritime area.
The surveys collected critical data on marine, coastal and environmental conditions, helping EirGrid to better understand the project area and inform the ongoing development of infrastructure options. This will support continued engineering, environmental and planning assessments for infrastructure associated with the Tonn Nua maritime area of Government’s South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan for Offshore Renewable Energy (SC-DMAP).
EirGrid would like to thank local communities, landowners, fisheries representatives and other marine users for their cooperation and engagement throughout the survey programme.
Adam Cronin, Head of Offshore – South Coast at EirGrid, said: 'The successful completion of our 2026 marine and coastal survey campaign is another significant step forward for the Powering Up Offshore – South Coast programme. The surveys provide vital information that will help us better understand the marine and coastal environment and inform the development of infrastructure options needed to connect offshore renewable energy to the national electricity grid.
'The completion of this work would not have been possible without the cooperation and support of local communities, stakeholders, fisheries and other marine users who engaged with us throughout the process. We greatly appreciate the time, knowledge and collaboration they provided, which helped us complete this important work safely and effectively.'
The end of the survey campaign comes as EirGrid continues its 12-week public consultation on emerging infrastructure options for connecting the Tonn Nua maritime area to the national grid, as part of the wider of the Powering Up Offshore – South Coast programme.
The consultation, which runs until 8 December, seeks feedback on emerging options for landfall locations, offshore cable corridors, offshore substations, grid connection points and onshore transmission cable routes in Cork and Wexford.
Once developed, the project is expected to facilitate the connection of approximately 900MW of offshore renewable energy, enough to power almost one million homes.
Cronin added: 'Public engagement is a vital part of how we develop projects. We are encouraging people to take part in the current consultation and review the emerging options being presented. In addition to the data gathered from activities, like our marine and coastal surveys, feedback from communities, landowners, marine users and other stakeholders help inform the next stage of project development.'
Learn more about the project on the Powering Up Offshore South Coast webpage
Source: EirGrid
