Plans lodged for €105m wind farm on Waterford/Tipperary border

Plans seek to erect 12 6-7.2 MW wind turbines, with a total of 74.2 megawatts, with an overall tip height of 185m, a rotor diameter of 162m and a hub height of 104m. File picture

A Dublin-based international wind and solar energy company has applied for permission to construct a €105m wind farm on 400 hectares in the Knockmealdown mountains on the Waterford/Tipperary border.

Dyrick Hill Wind Farm Limited lodged the application with An Bord Pleanála as a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) under Section 37E of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

Under SID, an applicant can bypass the local authority.

The site is 16km north-west of Dungarvan and 8.5km south-west of Ballymacarbry in the townlands of Dyrick, Ballynaguilkee Upper, Broemountain, Lisleaghmountain and others, with the lands cited as owned by 24 different parties.

The plans seek to erect 12 6-7.2 MW wind turbines, with a total of 74.2 megawatts (subject to technology improvements increasing the current output for turbines of this size), with an overall tip height of 185m, a rotor diameter of 162m and a hub height of 104m.

The application also seeks to construct a permanent meteorological mast reaching 104m and a permanent 110 kV substation.

It is proposed the wind farm will connect the national grid via 110 kV underground cables running about 16km to the existing Dungarvan substation.

The project’s consultees include the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Inland Fisheries Ireland, TII, Waterford City and County Council, the Irish Aviation Authority and Fáilte Ireland.

The company says it will provide a community fund of about €368,800 annually across the 15-year duration of the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS).

The company claims the farm will contribute an “estimated” €23.8m to council rates over its lifetime and potentially create up to 16 “direct jobs”.

Dyrick Hill Wind Farm Limited is part of the EMPower group, which boasts over 700 MW in development in Europe and Africa alone.

It is owned in turn by GGE Ireland Ltd, Wind Power Invest A/S and EMP Holdings Limited.

An Bord Pleanála’s decision is due by December 5.