Sir, – As the engineer in ESB headquarters responsible for offshore island electricity installations in the 1980s, I’d like to endorse Séamus Ó Drisceoil’s comments on the wind generators on Oileán Chléire (Letters, April 15th).
This was a unique demonstration project which was supported by our government through the National Board for Science and Technology (NBST) and the German government through its wind energy research specialists, SMA Regelsystem Gmbh, Kassel. I was delighed to read that the wind generators on the island gave over 10 years of excellent service.
The project was facilitated by the ESB through connection to the existing electricity distribution network on the island and, indeed, its importance at the time was emphasised in a visit there by the then ESB chief executive, Dr Paddy Moriarty. Things have moved on since, with the laying of undersea cables to virtually all of our inhabited offshore islands, incorporating them into the national electricity network. Yours, etc,
RAY TRAVERS BE, MIE,
Brook Court,
Monkstown,
Co Dublin