DONEGAL COUNTY Council has approved a major new multimillion-euro wind farm near the village of Inver. Saporio Limited, with a Dublin address, received the go-ahead to erect four 2.3 megawatt turbines at Clogheravaddy.
The turbines will be among the most powerful in Ireland, with a maximum hub height of 64m and a rotor blade diameter of 71m.
Significantly, the turbines will be in addition to another proposed four turbines for which planning permission has already been granted.
Permission is valid for 10 years and 22 conditions have been imposed, including a stipulation that the turbines be removed 25 years after being commissioned, unless further permission has been obtained to retain them.
This condition is now common in wind farm planning decisions and is designed to ensure landscape is not left littered with wind turbines which may become obsolete in years to come.
Donegal has more wind farms than any other county in Ireland and has been dubbed the “wind farm capital” of Ireland.
Its 24 operational wind farms have an installed capacity of almost 230 Mw.