Irish Group To Build US$152 Million 80-Megawatt Wind Farm

Bord na Mona, the Irish state-owned heating and energy group, is planning to construct an 80-megawatt wind farm in Mount Lucas, County Offaly, west of Dublin. Based at Bord na Mona's peat-production site, the new wind farm will cost an estimated euro 120 million (US$152 million), and will have the capacity to generate enough electricity for approximately 45,000 homes. Construction of the farm is expected to take from 18 to 24 months.

Dublin-based Bord na Mona said the wind farm would offset CO2 emissions by up to 125,000 tonnes per year. The proposed wind farm would add to the company's increased efforts to expand its renewable energy assets. Based in Newbridge, County Kildare, Bord na Mona's traditional business has involved managing the nation's peat resources, which the company has supplied as a fuel to power plants for 50 years. More recently, the company has been diversifying its assets by constructing electricity-generating facilities that include wind farms, flexible gas-fired generation and peaking units.

The Mount Lucas wind farm will include 32 wind turbines with individual capacities of 2.5 megawatts, access trackways, crane hard-standings, and underground cables running between the turbines and a 110-kilovolt electricity substation. The plant is expected to help the Irish government meet its goal of generating 40% of the nation's electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.
Bord na Mona has applied to EirGrid, the state-owned company that provides electricity transmission services for utility companies, to connect the new wind farm to the national grid.