The Republic could have more than 20 wind farms operating by the year 2000, the Minister of State for Public Enterprise, Mr Joe Jacob, predicted yesterday. Speaking at the official opening of the £12 million Cark Wind Farm near Ballybofey in Donegal, he said the Government target was to generate 10 per cent of the State's electricity requirements from renewable energy sources by the turn of the century, twice the present output.
He said the wind farm would produce 14 per cent of Donegal's electricity demand, and added: "It will mean the reduction of harmful carbon dioxide emissions by some 15,000 tonnes per annum." The Cark project features 25 turbines with the distance from the ground to the tip of the rotor blades over 60 metres, the equivalent of a 14-storey building. It has an installed capacity of 15 MW and will generate enough electricity to cater for the needs of 15,000 homes. The wind farm, which took four months to build, is a joint venture between an English firm, Renewable Energy Systems, and B9 Energy Services of Larne.