Kilranelagh Wind Farm

Following the previous project update in September 2020, ABO Wind would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the planning application and Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Kilranelagh Wind Farm have now been completed and will be submitted to Wicklow County Council within the next week. The application seeks to obtain planning permission for the construction of 5 wind turbines, connection of the wind farm to the national grid and all other associated infrastructure and site development works.

A heritage trail also forms part of the planning application proposals. This will facilitate interpretation of the local archaeological and heritage assets embedded in the landscape that surround the proposed development through pre-organised, guide-led tours of the archaeological sites and cultural heritage features within the site.

A Planning Notification will be advertised in tomorrow’s (13th January 2021) publication of the Wicklow People. All planning documentation associated with the application including the EIAR will be available to view on the Wicklow County Council planning portal when the application has been validated by the Local Authority. 

On the 25^th September ABO Wind distributed a newsletter providing an update on the progress of the planned development of Kilranelagh Wind Farm.

The newsletter provides an insight into the feedback we received following the earlier periods of consultation, and how we have considered and where possible made amendments to the site layout to respond to this feedback and further technical work we have undertaken during the preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR). As a result, the number of turbines proposed at Kilranelagh Wind Farm has reduced from nine to five. 

Further information can be found in the newsletter available for download here.

Initial feedback received regarding the proposed wind farm project at Kilranelagh is that there are particular concerns in relation to cultural heritage/archaeology.

There are two aspects to this which we are currently working on and plan to address prior to submitting a planning application later on this year. 

1. On site archaeology

At an early stage of the project, archaeologists were engaged and detailed research and an initial site inspection has taken place. This has allowed recorded and known archaeological features to be identified and mapped on Kilranelagh Hill. Turbines and associated infrastructure will be located outside agreed exclusion zones associated with all identified archaeological features. Ongoing site work and consultation is now taking place to ensure that all cultural heritage assets are considered at an early stage of this project and to inform the iterative, decision-making process.

If the project obtains planning permission and is constructed, all work will be carried out in accordance to the requirements of the statutory authorities. 

2. Wider archaeological landscape

Another aspect is the setting of the wind farm in the context of the broader archaeological landscape and the hillforts situated at Spinans/Brusselstown Hill, and Baltinglass Hill as well as prehistoric ritual monuments on Keadeen Mountain. Our archaeologists and landscape architects will be working closely together over the coming months to carry out an in-depth assessment of the potential impacts of the proposals. 

We also intend to engage with the National Monuments Service (NMS) of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Wicklow County Council and other interested parties.  

Stage 1 – Constraints Mapping

The first stage of site design is to map out all of the site constraints including setbacks from properties, watercourses, archaeological features, sensitive ecology and landscape areas and telecommunications. We use both in-house resources and expert consultants i.e. ecologists, archaeologists, landscape architects. We apply buffers to these areas and these will be ‘no go’ areas for wind turbines and site infrastructure. This helps us to establish ‘developable areas’ i.e. areas where we could in theory place turbines and site infrastructure.

Stage 2 – Preliminary Consultation Layout

We take the developable areas and place turbines in these areas, using the recommended spacing between turbines to avoid turbulence/wake effects. This is then our preliminary layout which we consult on, in order to gain feedback from the local community and our expert consultants. We collate all comments/feedback received from all parties into a feedback log.

This is the stage we are currently at with Kilranelagh. See preliminary consultation layout below –


 
Stage 3 – Site Optimisation

We give the feedback log to our wind yield team who will refine the site layout to take on board these comments, while also trying to maximise the amount of energy that could be generated from the wind farm. 

Stage 4 – Design Freeze

We will then have a ‘frozen’ layout which we give to our consultants to base their detailed assessments on. These assessments are compiled into an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) which will be submitted with the planning application. Occasionally some issues crop up during the EIA phase following further investigation and consultation, which could require some tweaks to the layout.

Stage 5 – Planning Submission – Layout Fixed

Once the planning application, EIAR and planning drawings have been submitted to the planning, no further changes can be made to the wind farm site layout.

This new website will keep interested residents informed about the development of our wind farm Kilranelagh. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions!