Major wind farm gets the go-ahead

Another major onshore wind farm has been granted planning permission in North Mayo.

An Bord Pleanála issued approval last week for the Sheskin South Wind Farm, which will consist of 18 turbines with a maximum tip height of 200 metres on a site approximately 6.7 km northeast of Bangor Erris and 11km south of the Atlantic coastline.

The promoters behind the project are SSE Renewables and FuturEnergy Ireland.

The latter is a leading Irish wind developer established in 2021 as a stand-alone joint venture between Coillte and the ESB.

Originally, the project partners had sought permission for a 21-turbine farm, which they said would generate 126 megawatts of electricity at full capacity - enough to supply 83,000 homes.

Tom Coleman, Development Project Manager for SSE Renewables, welcomed the decision made by An Bord Pleanála to grant consent for Sheskin South Wind Farm.

“Delivery of this project will not only boost Ireland’s energy independence and provide cheaper, cleaner, more secure, homegrown electricity it will be crucial to achieving Ireland’s net zero targets, deliver clear economic benefits, through jobs and supply chain opportunities, whilst the associated community benefit fund will have a direct impact on the local community.

“To deliver on the ambition of the project, we need to see more action on grid investment in the north-west. We will continue to work with the Government and EirGrid to address grid challenges in the region. We also look forward to working with the local community and our co-development partners FuturEnergy Ireland to take the project to the next stage.”

Mary Lynch, Portfolio Director at FuturEnergy Ireland, said: “Together with our co-development partner on the project, SSE Renewables, we are looking forward to advancing the project into its commercialisation stage where the project and its supply chain will start to take shape. It is a significant project of scale, which will make a very positive and lasting contribution to the local economy in Mayo.”

The promoters say the Sheskin South Wind Farm will generate between 100 and 120 jobs during construction, along with supply chain opportunities for the area.

They are also committed to delivering a Community Benefit Fund to deliver hundreds of thousands of euro annually to the local community.

Sheskin South Wind Farm is a 50:50 co-development between SSE Renewables and FuturEnergy Ireland.

The progression of the project is dependent on a final investment decision.

A proposed grid connection planning application, in addition to a turbine delivery route application, is scheduled to be submitted later this year.