Wind farm company gives more details of huge plan

Wind farm company gives more details of huge plan

18 September 2013

A SECOND round of public consultations into the major wind farm planned off the Lecale coast were held in Down District this week.

First Flight Wind, the consortium behind the plan to build the wind farm, held a series of information days in Ardglass, Newcastle, Downpatrick and Portaferry.

Those visiting the Downpatrick session on Thursday were told Northern Ireland would receive an investment boost should the project go ahead, with both temporary construction and permanent jobs available.

Announced back in October 2012, the proposed wind farm would have a capacity of 600 megawatts (MW) and could be one of the largest infrastructure projects ever carried out in Northern Ireland.

If permission is granted, the wind farm could provide up to a fifth of Northern Ireland’s electricity and be operational by 2020, which could help meet renewable energy and carbon targets and reduce fuel imports.

On Thursday, Michael Harper, director of First Flight Wind, pointed to the Greater Gabbard wind farm off the Suffolk cost coast, which although a smaller operation, had led to £500m being invested with UK companies and the creation of around 100 permanent jobs.

He said it would be disingenuous to suggest County Down would reap all the benefits but stressed there would be local benefits. “It is a high capital project,” he said.

Pointing to model photographs, showing how the turbines would look at either eight or 15 kilometres from the shore, Mr. Harper said oral feedback so far suggested people wanted fewer but bigger turbines.

With two more rounds of public consultations planned until the end of 2015, surveys of feedback from stakeholders and the public had yet to be analysed. As a result, Mr. Harper said an exact location for the wind farm, which could stretch from Strangford Lough to Carlingford Lough, had yet to decided.

“We will not be in a position to supply confirmation on the location until the surveys are complete,” he said. “The challenge is to avoid damaging fish.”

Mr. Harper acknowledged fishermen had concerns over the impact to their livelihood and said he was in regular contact with representatives from the Northern Ireland Fish Producers’ Organisation.

“We were in Kilkeel and Ardglass and we have had a number of potters and trawlermen in to see us. It is an important industry.”

Asked if damage could realistically be avoided, he responded: “That is what we are aiming to do, what we are confident we can do.”

Over the next months, a plane equipped with four high definition video cameras will fly over the so-called wind resource zone each month recording bird and marine mammal activity.

The results of the survey will help determine which birds and marine mammal species use the area earmarked for the turbines and help identify any potential effects on sea birds and marine mammals.

For more information on contributing to the consultation process visit www.firstflightwind.com