Bord na Mona plans 40-MW wind farm

TEMPLETUOHY BOG, IRELAND - Irish heating and energy company Bord na Mona will soon apply for planning permission to build a 40-megawatt (MW) wind farm near Templetuohy in the south of Ireland.

The new wind farm is the latest in the group's efforts to create a portfolio of new electricity generating plants, including wind farms, flexible gas-fired generation and peaking units. The company's traditional business has involved managing the nation's peat resources, which it has supplied as a fuel to power plants for 50 years.

The proposed Bruckana Windfarm will be situated on cutaway peat lands near Templetuohy bog, which spans parts of Counties Kilkenny, Laois and Tipperary. When complete, the facility will have a generating capacity of approximately 40 MW from 16 wind turbines, access trackways, crane hard-standings, underground cables between the turbines, a 38-kilovolt (kV) electricity substation and a 38-kV overhead line to Lisheen substation.

The exact turbines have not been selected yet, but they will have maximum dimensions of 100-metre hub height and rotor blades of 112 metres in diameter. When operational, the windfarm will generate enough electricity for approximately 20,000 homes and will prevent the emission of 55,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.

An application for connection of the wind farm to the national grid has been made to EirGrid, and planning applications are being prepared for the local authorities of Kilkenny, Laois and Tipperary. Bord na Mona argued that the farm will improve the Ireland's geographical distribution of wind energy and will provide a more balanced input of wind energy to the grid.

"Government policy has set a target for 40% of the electricity consumed in 2020 to be generated from renewable resources," Bord na Mona said in a statement. "It is widely accepted that the majority of this additional electricity from renewable energy sources will be provided by wind power. There are currently over 1,000 MW of wind power capacity connected to the electricity system, and it is estimated that a further 5,000 MW will be required to meet the 40% target set for 2020."

Bord na Mona's plans for a 32-turbine wind farm in Mountlucas in County Offaly have encountered delays from local authorities, which are now seeking further information about the project. If it gets the go-ahead, the wind farm will have a generating capacity of 80 MW, enough to power about 45,000 homes and offset carbon emissions by 125,000 tonnes per year.