Mayo Abbey community stands together amid wind farm, substation and battery storage planning applications
Members of the community gathered at Mayo Abbey Community Centre on Monday evening to discuss the three planning applications.
The Cunlaghfadda Mayo Abbey Voice hosted a community information evening at Mayo Abbey Community Centre on Monday night, bringing residents together to discuss the latest planning developments affecting the area.
The meeting comes just days after Cunlaghfadda Green Energy Limited submitted plans for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Cloonbaul.
Cunlaghfadda Green Energy Limited is also currently appealing Mayo County Council's refusal of permission for the proposed seven-turbine Cunlaghfadda Wind Farm, and a separate 110kV electricity substation at Cloonbaul.
Both appeals are currently before An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Under the latest application, Cunlaghfadda Green Energy Limited is seeking permission to develop a BESS consisting of 10 battery storage clusters, each containing one transformer and four smartstack units.
The development would also include a new single-storey 33kV BESS substation building, concrete foundations, an internal access track, electrical equipment storage, underground electrical and communications cabling, an approximately 18-metre-high lightning mast, lighting columns, CCTV cameras, palisade fencing and an access gate.
Plans also include one fire water retention tank and two fire water storage tanks, as well as the widening and upgrading of existing tracks and the construction of new site access tracks.
Approximately 220 metres of underground electrical and communications cabling would be installed between the proposed BESS substation and the proposed electrical substation control building.
The company is seeking a 10-year planning permission, with the battery storage clusters and associated infrastructure proposed to be decommissioned following a 35-year operational life from full commissioning.
Speaking the morning after Monday night's meeting, the Cunlaghfadda Mayo Abbey Voice thanked members of the community for attending.
“Tonight was another reminder of just how strong this community is when we come together. People from across Mayo Abbey, Cunlaghfadda, Cloonbaul, Knockaunakill, Knockroe, Harefield and the surrounding areas standing side by side,” the group said. “There is a lot happening and a lot for people to take in, but nobody has to face it alone.”
In the wake of the news that Cunlaghfadda Green Energy Limited has appealed Mayo County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for the proposed windfarm, near Mayo Abbey, the group has called for the community to stand together.
The Cunlaghfadda Wind Farm would see seven turbines with a foundation-to-blade-tip height of 160 metres developed across the townlands of Knockroe, Cunlaghfadda, Harefield, Cloonbaul and Knockaunakill.
The wind farm proposal attracted 169 submissions during the original planning process, with concerns raised over its potential impact on the landscape, residential properties, archaeology, ecology and the area's historic character.
The community group has repeatedly raised its concerns about the impact of major energy infrastructure in the area.
“Mayo County Council considered this application and made the decision to refuse it. Importantly, in its reasons for refusal, the Council recognised Mayo Abbey and the surrounding area as - Those words matter,” they said.
“This is an area with a history, heritage, landscape and community that deserve to be protected for future generations.
“It is about the potential impact on our homes, our families, wildlife and biodiversity, peatland and water, noise and shadow flicker, construction traffic, our historic landscape and the cumulative impact of major energy infrastructure on one rural community,” they added.
The deadline for submissions to An Coimisiún Pleanála in relation to the proposed windfarm is 5pm on September 7, 2026.
The deadline for submissions to An Coimisiún Pleanála regarding the proposed 110kV substation is 5pm on September 1, 2026.
