Project Overview and Evolution

We believe this proposal has the capacity to deliver climate action while bringing very real benefits to the local area and its people. This proposal is to develop a 7-turbine wind farm near Rhode, Co. Offaly. Under this proposal, the turbines, with a tip height of 185 metres, would be developed in two clusters. The location under consideration was initially identified following a review of areas that could allow for the development of this type. All wind energy proposals with an output of over 50MW are deemed by planning to be strategic projects given what they potentially have to offer. Therefore, submission directly to An Bord Pleanála as a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) application is a planning requirement for this proposal. Offaly County Council will be expected to review and actively input on any submission

Project at a Glance

 

  • 7-turbine project
  • Distance to nearest turbine – over 740m *
  • Turbine heights of maximum 185m
  • Over 50MW of renewable energy to the Irish electricity grid
  • Associated works will include access tracks, turbine foundations and hard 
    standing areas, drainage works, temporary site compound, grid systems 
    services, substation, underground electrical and communications cables 
    between turbines and an underground cable to connect the proposed project 
    to a local substation
  • Zero shadow flicker policy
  • Total Community Benefit Fund of circa €3.7 million over 15 years, depending 
    on the final design
  • Annual rates payments to Cork County Council of over €825,000 over the 
    project lifetime
  • All cables underground


* A residential property is within this area by agreement

 

How has this project evolved over time?

Following our recent community engagement, further optimisation of this design was carried out. As with all our projects, local appropriateness is a fundamental 
consideration and the Grand Canal Way historical and recreational importance was 
foremost in nearly every engagement.
We have redesigned the project and increased the setback distance from the canal 
to the nearest turbine from 123 meters to 506 meters, an increase of 437 meters. 
Our design team have also optimised our turbine layout by reducing the number of 
turbines from 10 to 7. Despite this reduction, we are still able to achieve an output 
exceeding 50MW. The type of turbines selected remains unchanged, and the tip 
height is maintained at 185 meters.
The proposed project includes sections of Coillte property in addition to other third-party lands. If you have any queries related to Coillte, please contact lsinfo@coillte.ie


The design changes are set out in the following table:

Ballinla Project Evolution
 

Concept Design

Further Design Iteration

Current Design

Distance to houses

500m

 740m 

 740m 

No. of turbines

12

10

7

Shadow flicker

Eliminated - no shadow flicker

Eliminated - no shadow flicker

Eliminated - no shadow flicker

Turbine height

120m

185m

 185m

Potential capacity

c. 42MW

c. 55MW

c. 50MW

 

Environmental Impact

An environmental impact assessment is a planning and decision-making tool used to assess the potential positive and negative effects of proposed projects.
Impact assessments consider a wide range of factors and propose measures to 
mitigate the potential adverse effects of projects