Turbine assembly nearly finished at big Offaly wind farm

TURBINE assembly work at Bord na Mona's second wind farm in north Offaly is nearing completion.

There will be 21 turbines at Cloncreen Wind Farm, which is located on a 960-hectare site between the main Daingean-Edenderry road and Edenderry Power station near Clonbullogue.

Bord na Mona say the wind farm will be capable of generating 75MW of electricity, estimated to be enough to power 55,000 homes and it will be connected to the grid in October this year.

The €100million wind farm is part of the company’s €1.6billion accelerated development pipeline of climate action projects that will enable it to supply about one third of Irish homes with renewable energy by 2030.  

Speaking last year when site preparation works were underway, John Reilly, Bord na Mona's head of renewable energy, said the company had a 1GW power production target by 2030.

“In the overall scheme of things this is just one of about 14 such projects that we hope to, not just develop, but deliver, in the period between now and 2030. The ultimate aim is to produce green electricity to support indigenous supply and security supply within the market and of course to help Ireland achieve its climate action targets.”

The Cloncreen wind farm is about four kilometres east of the larger Bord na Mona Mountlucas facility, where 28 turbines are capable of generating 84MW of electricity. It was switched on in 2014.

In west Offaly, Bord na Mona has planning permission for a 21-turbine wind farm at Derrinlough and hopes to build another 17-turbine project on a bog at Lemanaghan but has run into local opposition there, partly because of the project's proximity to a medieval monastic site.

Meanwhile, Offaly's biggest wind farm project moved a step closer at the beginning of June when it won a provisional contract under the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS-2).

The proposed Yellow River wind farm near Rhode was granted planning permission in 2014 and developer SSE Renewables says its 29 turbines, which will rise to a maximum of 166 metres, will generate up to 104MW.

The turbines will be located on sites leased by 22 local landowners.

Also in north Offaly, another company, Statkraft, has planning consent for Moanvane Wind Farm, a 12-turbine project between Geashill and Walsh Island.