Planning permission is sought for a 17-turbine wind farm in East Kerry.
Cummeennabuddoge Wind Designated Activity Company is applying for 10-year permission to build the turbines in lands in East Kerry, with tip heights of around 200 metres.
In its planning application, the company urges An Bórd Pleanála to grant permission, even if doing so would contravene Kerry County Council’s County Development Plan.
The shareholders in the company are SSE Renewables and FuturEnergy Ireland; the latter is a joint venture owned by Coillte and ESB aiming to accelerate Ireland’s transformation to a low-carbon energy economy.
The company proposes to build the wind turbines on land at Cummeennabuddoge, Clydaghroe, Glashacormick, Cummeenavrick, all in Kerry, and a proportion of grid connection cabling in Cork.
Each turbine would be capable of generating between 6-7.2 MegaWatts (MW) with an overall anticipated capacity of between 102-122 MW inclusive.
It’s proposed that the wind farm will be operational for 35 years, after which it will be decommissioned.
The company acknowledges that the site involved is no longer designated for wind energy in Kerry County Council’s current County Development Plan 2022-2028, but it was designated in the two previous plans.
It says, however, this can be outweighed by national policy, and the company wrote that the wind energy policy in the plan is a broad-brush approach that doesn’t take into account site specifics.
The company writes this qualifies as overriding public interest with EU directives, which should be given considerable weight.
It writes that the Board has the power to grant planning permission, even if the development materially contravenes the county development plan, and the company submits that permission should be granted.
The company claims the landscape will accommodate the development without leading to unacceptable adverse effects on the setting or visual amenity.
An Bórd Pleanála is due to decide on the planning application by 22nd April next year.
