SSE Renewables joins forces with ESB and Coillte on Mayo wind farm plan

SSE Renewables is joining with ESB- and Coillte-backed FuturEnergy Ireland to build a wind farm in Co Mayo that the developers claim will produce enough electricity for 83,000 homes.

The pair have applied to An Bord Pleanála for permission for a 21-turbine wind farm in the townland of Sheskin, Co Mayo that will cost more than €100 million to build.

If it is constructed, they calculate that the 126 megawatts of electricity it will generate at full capacity will be enough to supply 83,000 homes.

The partners say they will establish a community benefit fund to contribute to local activities over the first 15 years of the wind farm’s life.

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Building the plant will create up to 120 jobs, while there will be opportunities for businesses in the area to supply the facility.

FuturEnergy Ireland is a joint venture established by the ESB and State forestry company Coillte to invest €1 billion building wind farms around the Republic.

SSE Renewables is part of Scottish utility SSE, which is a big player in the Irish electricity generation and supply industries.

Tom Coleman, its project manager, pledged that its community fund would benefit locals if the wind farm was built.

Emmet McLoughlin, FuturEnergy’s project manager, argued that the companies were seeking planning for the Sheskin South Wind Farm at a time when the Republic was in urgent need of renewable electricity.