Wind farms ‘will fail due to planning uncertainty’

MANY wind development projects will fail due to expired planning permissions if the offer dates for grid connections continue to change, the Irish Wind Association has warned.

It called on the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) to direct the ESB and Eirgrid to deliver grid connection offers for wind developments by the end of this year at the latest.

IWEA chairman Tim Cowhig said the CER must act as a regulator and not a facilitator of the ESB-Eirgrid. He said that the CER’s announcement that it intends extending the date for grid connection offers to December 2007 is unacceptable and will continue the damaging uncertainty under which wind projects are forced to develop.

“This December date is already six months later than originally indicated, and is not even a firm commitment from the CER,” he said.

“This again forces wind farm developers to operate in the dark, without the constraint information they need to plan and develop their projects. The wind energy sector needs certainty in planning investments needed to deliver the Government’s renewable energy targets through wind. “This requires firm deadlines from the CER and Eirgrid-ESB for grid connection offers,” he said.