May date now listed for €100m wind farm planning decision

An Bord Pleanála has listed May 26 this year as the latest decision date for €100 million wind farm plans in South Roscommon, close to a year after the application was first lodged.

Energia Renewables ROI Ltd submitted a planning application to An Bord Pleanála for the so-called Seven Hills wind energy project near Dysart, at the beginning of June of 2022, consisting of 20 wind turbines with a typical output of six to seven megawatts - reported to be enough to supply around 85,000 Irish households with renewable electricity every year.

The application, made via the Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) process, directly to An Bord Pleanála is seeking a ten-year planning permission and 30-year turbine operational period from the date of commissioning of the entire wind farm.

Initially, a verdict had been due in December of 2022, but that date came and went and May 26 is now listed on a planning appeal board's website for a final verdict.

It appears the South Roscommon application has been a victim of a major backlog of cases due for decision in the beleaguered planning appeals boards, which has been down board member numbers for many months. Several new members and a new Chairperson came on board at the beginning of the year, and they are bidding to make inroads into the backlog of applications awaiting a final verdict, a spokesperson for An Bord Pleanála says.

With an overall ground to blade tip height of 180 metres, a rotor diameter of 162 metres and a hub height of 99 metres, the wind turbines are earmarked for an area of approximately 588 hectares of land in total, according to the submitted plans.

It would be divided by the main R363 road into two wind turbine clusters, seven in the Dysart area, and 13 in the Taughmaconnell area, the company previously indicated when they announced a revised layout for the scheme.

Among the townlands earmarked for the project include Turrock, Cronin, Gortaphuill, Glenrevagh, Tullyneeny, Bredagh, Cuilleenirwan, Cuilleenoolagh, Curry, Milltown, Tobermacloughlin, Skeavally, Boleyduff, Clooncaltry, Feacle, Cam, Tawnagh, Cornageeha, Pollalaher, Brideswell, Knocknanool, Ballymullavill, Rooskagh, Bellanamullia, Cloonakille, Monksland and Commeen.

The application is a joint venture proposal between Energia Renewables ROI Ltd. and Galetech Energy Developments Ltd. Energia Renewables ROI Ltd is a subsidiary of Energia Group.

When asked previously why the project had been resurrected, given the local community fought the previous scheme all the way to High Court over six years ago and won, a spokesperson for Energia said the latest proposals are a “new project” with “fewer turbines and a new site layout”.

The company acknowledged the court win which ruled that further environmental studies were required in relation to groundwater systems and local flooding.

Among the vast amount of documentation lodged to An Bord Pleanála this time around includes various studies and reports to directly address the earlier refusal verdict.

The company carried out a series of community consultation events during the summer of 2021 with local residents both by appointment in-person and online.