£100m plan to site wind-farm off west coast

A proposal to locate the first wind-farm off the west coast was unveiled yesterday. The £100 million project is to be located off the Kerry coast, on the Shannon estuary, and is to involve the construction of between 20 and 30 wind turbines. The promoters of the project, National Windpower Ltd, have applied to the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources for a foreshore licence to investigate its feasibility.

The Department has already issued seven licences to four companies to carry out similar investigations for sites in the south Irish Sea.

The managing director of National Windpower, Mr David Fitzgerald, said yesterday it was confident that the site investigations over a 40 sq km area between Kilmore and Inchamore Points, south of the Cashen River, would allow it to proceed with the wind-farm.

Mr Fitzgerald said the company planned to form a consortium to advance the project to construction stage. He said the turbines could be erected within six months of start-up.

The Shannon estuary area has been identified as a prime location for wind-power and currently three land-based windfarm projects in the estuary are at various stages of planning.

Because the proposal is not located on dry land, the £100 million plan will not have to go through the normal planning process. However, Department regulations require that projects must have a land-based element and that planning permission must be in place for it before an application is made for a lease to construct and operate the wind-farm. An Environmental Impact Statement must be submitted with the lease application.