Concrete poured for first turbine base at Offaly's biggest wind farm
CONCRETE has been poured for the first turbine base on what will be Offaly's biggest wind farm.
SSE Renewables started work on a 29-turbine wind farm between Croghan and Rhode in October and construction is scheduled to be finished by 2024.
The project is expected to support up to 80 full-time construction jobs at peak delivery and the company has hailed the work on the first turbine base as a major milestone.
Yellow River project manager, Paul Rodgers said: "While we are at the start of the construction journey for Yellow River Wind Farm, we have come so far in a relatively short time and we’re another step closer to realising Ireland’s net zero ambitions. Our Yellow River wind farm project is also contributing to SSE Renewables’ own ambitious Net Zero Acceleration Plan which sees us spending around €8m a day on critical low-carbon infrastructure needed for the global transition to net zero emissions.
“At a community level, our focus is now on building strong and meaningful relationships with people living and working in the vicinity of the Yellow River Wind Farm. As a responsible developer and operator, we are looking forward to working closely with the community in Rhode, Co Offaly and the wider region to fully realise the benefits of this exciting project.”
According to SSE, once completed, the wind farm will be capable of generating enough green energy to power over 66,000 homes and offset over 70 million kg of carbon dioxide annually. This will help Ireland meet its target of 80% renewable energy by 2030, as set out under the Climate Action Plan of 2021.
Forty-six lorryloads of concrete were delivered for the first turbine base by BD Flood from local batching plants.
The lead contractor is Farrans, working with supply chain members, KR Formwork, BD Flood Concrete and Erne Concrete Pumping.
Each turbine base will support one of 29 Nordex N117/3600 wind turbines.
The wind farm is the first large scale project of its kind to be located on private land. A total of 22 local landowners leased sites to the company for the turbines.
SSE Renewables is part of SSE plc, the UK-listed integrated energy group which is investing £12.5bn over five years in its net zero acceleration programme.