Plans are to be lodged in the coming days with An Bord Pleanala for a ‘landmark’ 450 MW wind-farm with 30 turbines over 1,000 ft high in the Atlantic Ocean off the Co Clare and Co Galway coast.
The 30 turbine Sceirde Rocks Offshore Wind Farm by Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta is to be located 5km to 11.5m km off the west coast with Carna in Galway the nearest settlement.
The project is to be the first off-shore wind-farm off Ireland’s west coast to go through to An Bord Pleanala for planning permission and is to power 350,000 Irish homes, save an estimated 550,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, and invest up to €70m in local community initiatives.
The proposed wind farm will have a maximum tip-height of 325m (1,066ft).
The project also involves landfall works at Killard on the Clare coast that lie close to US President elect, Donald Trump’s golf resort at Doonbeg.
At Killard, which lies south of the Trump Doonbeg resort, the renewable energy firm is planning to construct an underground Transition Joint Bay (TJB) connecting the off-shore cable to the onshore grid connection cable.
Power from the wind farm will be brought onshore through a 68.5m km sea cable passing to the west of the Aran Islands and making land at Killard.
The planning notice states that the TJB consists of an underground concrete chamber measuring 20m x 5m wide with a depth of 2.5m where the proposed off-shore cable will be connected to the onshore grid connection cable. A temporary construction compound will be built at Killard.
The onshore grid connection will be placed underground for 19.3km to a new 220kV ‘onshore compensation compound’ at Ballymacrinan, Co Clare.
Accounts recently filed by Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta show that the company has already invested €31.7m on project costs in 2023 and 2024.
The accounts show that the company had accumulated losses of €35.93m at the end of March last as the company steered the project during various regulatory hurdles.
The company is a joint venture between the Australian based Macquarie Group and global infrastructure investor, the Ontario Teachers Pension Board.
The planning application follows the company in June 2023 being successful in the State’s Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme where it received a capacity award of 450MW.
Stakeholder Manager for Sceirde Rocks Windfarm, Michael Cloherty said: “This planning application marks the culmination of around three years of surveying, data analysis and community engagement activity.
He said: “We have worked closely with the local community to design a project which we believe will deliver on their needs and expectations and we are grateful to everyone who met with our team and engaged with us throughout this process.”
Project Director of Sceirde Rocks Windfarm, Paul Concannon said: “Sceirde Rocks Windfarm has the potential to deliver enduring benefits to Ireland and to local communities in Galway – reducing Ireland’s carbon emissions, improving energy security, and stimulating vital investment in local skills, employment, infrastructure and business development.”
Subject to the 10 year long consent being granted, construction is currently expected to begin in 2026 with the first generation of electricity from 2030. The wind-farm is to be operational for 38 years.
According to the statutory planning notice, third parties can lodge submissions until 5.30pm on March 24th.
