€1bn plan to turn bogs into windfarms

Bord na Móna has unveiled a €1bn energy export plan to turn bogs across Offaly and Kildare into windfarms.

The company said it will use 20,000 hectares of land it holds to sell electricity to the UK and Europe — enough to power 1m homes.

It said the development will see 3,000 jobs created during seven years of construction and 200 maintenance and operations jobs when the scheme is up and running in 2020.

A series of separate cutaway bogs across east Offaly and west Kildare are to be used for the turbines.

Pat Rabbitte, the minister for communications, energy and natural resources, said the plan showed peatlands which are far away from concentrations of people can be a suitable location for wind power.

“I have been working hard with my colleagues in the British Government to develop a framework to allow for exports of green energy to Britain and beyond,” he said.

“I am very pleased that a state company like Bord na Móna is capitalising on its assets and its expertise and the demand for clean green energy for the benefit of the Irish people.”

However, Mr Rabbitte said that none of the large-scale energy projects that have been announced will be given the green light unless they meet the guidelines of the Renewable Energy Export and Development Framework which isn’t due to be published until this time next year.

“Yesterday I launched the first stage of a consultation process on the Renewable Energy Export and Development Framework. The approval of any proposed large-scale renewable energy export projects must await the putting in place of this framework.”

The latest plan, billed as Bord na Móna’s clean energy hub, aims to supply 2GW of electricity to the British and mainland European energy market.

Bord na Móna has vowed to listen to concerns of communities across the Midlands starting in the next few weeks.

The scheme is destined for opposition as plans by other energy companies to exploit the region for wind farms are facing increasing objections from land owners, residents of isolated houses, and lobby groups which reject wind as a viable energy alternative.

Two companies — Element Power and Mainstream — are already seeking the green light to erect 1,150 giant turbines across Offaly, Laois, Kildare, Meath, and Westmeath with the aim to export electricity to the UK.

Bord na Móna said it will demonstrate how jobs will be created in its scheme and also offer a community benefit package which will include new walking trails, biodiverse parklands, and amenity lands.

CEO Gabriel D’Arcy said the plan was about getting the highest return from natural resources.

“We intend to work with local communities and everyone in the region to secure what we intend will be a sustainable future for the Midlands built on the export of surplus renewable energy,” he said.

The energy hub plan was unveiled at the launch of a new 40MW windfarm development at Bruckana on Bord na Móna’s cutaway peatland on the Laois, Kilkenny, Tipperary, borders. It has 14 wind turbines and will supply 23,000 homes.

Chairman John Horgan said: “Windfarms are innovative and profitable ways of continuing our mandate to extract maximum economic and social value from the lands we hold in trust for the benefit of all people of Ireland.”