A wind farm proposed for a site on the Ox mountains in south Co Sligo would be the biggest in Ireland. It would generate more electricity than all the onshore wind farms in the State.
Eirtricity Ltd has lodged an application with Sligo County Council for the £100 million development. It would include 67 wind turbines reaching to more than 100 metres. The wind farm would be spread over 3,000 acres about three miles into the Ox mountains from the village of Cloonacool. The plans also provide for the construction of a 25-mile access road to be built on piers rather than directly on the bog.
A statement issued by Eirtricity said the project was "very timely" because both the north-west and the State as a whole were facing a shortage in generating capacity. In addition it said the Republic was "likely to be penalised in the future for over-reliance on oil, coal and gas" for power generation, which is adding to our greenhouse gas emissions.
Eirtricity said the huge wind farm was "a way for the northwest to avail of a natural resource which is scarce in the rest of the country" and would bring economic benefits locally.
"The country is heading for a power shortage. Already this winter emergency generation units have had to be deployed," the statement said. The wind farm would have the capacity to produce more than 550 million units of electricity, enough to supply nearly 90,000 homes.
The land for the project is owned in commonage by 10 local people who have entered into an agreement with Eirtricity and are supporting the planning application. It covers the townlands of Laughil and Cloondrihara.
Just 2 per cent of our electricity comes from wind energy. A spokesman for Eirtricity said that there was "a very stark choice" to be faced in relation to the emission of greenhouse gases.
"Either we want to tackle climate change or we will not have any of these landscapes to preserve - they will change either by drying up or by getting wetter," he said.
Contact number
Readers who want to contact Theresa Judge can leave messages for her at 01-6707711, ext 739.
tjudge@irish-times.ie