Group plans wind powered project on the Kish bank

A consortium has submitted a proposal to the Government to establish the largest wind power project in the history of the State on the Kish bank, about six miles off the coast of Dublin.

The wind farm, which would consist of about 100 large wind turbines, will cost about £200 million and could supply up to 250 megawatts of electricity.

This would be sufficient to provide power to more than 200,000 homes, although no decision has been made at this stage on the sale of the electricity. During construction, several hundred jobs will be created.

The consortium consists of the ESB, PowerGen, the second largest electricity company in Britain, and Saorgus Energy, a wind energy company based in Tralee, Co Kerry. A spokesman for the group said yesterday it would take several years to build the wind farm, as work can only be done during the summer.

Planning permission is not needed for the wind farm, but the consortium does require a foreshore licence from the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources and has submitted the proposal to the Minister, Dr Woods.

The three companies are equal partners in the venture and are currently carrying out a study into the site. The purpose of the study is to measure wind speeds at the location which is to the south of the Kish lighthouse.

The study is being undertaken in conjunction with Irish Lights. Dr Aidan Forde, director of Saorgus Energy, said the consortium was confident Kish would provide "an inexhaustible energy resource that can be harnessed for the first time".

The study is expected to take up to a year to complete. Mr David O'Connor, of the ESB's power generation business unit, said the consortium envisaged no technical barriers to the project going ahead.

The Kish bank, which is submerged for most of the year, is about 18 kilometres long and more than 300 metres wide. The consortium intends to root the turbines, which are approximately 60 metre high, in the bank. They will then connect the bank to the shore using an underwater cable, which will carry the electricity. Members of the consortium have briefed Dr Woods about the plan. In a statement last night, he said the proposal was "innovative and exciting". He said any decision about the project would be carried out "following consultation with shipping operators, fisherman, marine leisure interests, exploration companies, scientific and wildlife concerns and other users of the marine resource".

Dr Forde said the east coast has several scattered pieces of land offshore which could be used for large scale wind farms and the company was currently examining these.

While there have been wind farms in the Republic for many years - mostly on the west coast - use of the technology has been low compared to other EU states. At present the amount of energy produced from wind power is less than 5 per cent, although this is likely to increase.