| Client | SSE Renewables |
|---|---|
| Turley office | Derry~Londonderry , Belfast |
| Status | Planning permission granted |
| LPA | Derry City & Strabane District Council |
Optimising energy output from an approved wind farm in Northern Ireland and ensuring timely planning decisions
Our role
- We secured planning permissions to alter the previously approved Glenconway wind farm permission for eight turbines and discharge commencement conditions, meeting strict SSE commissioning programme deadlines.
- We also secured planning permission for a four-turbine extension to Slieve Kirk (Slieve Kirk 2; SK2) in March 2015, in the final days before the transfer of the majority of planning powers to local authorities, which represented a hard planning deadline.
- We procured a full EIA team, scoped and managed the EIA process, led engagement with DoE Planning (up to Chief Planner level, in the context of SSE’s wider programme at that time, including Bessy Bell 2&3, Tievenameenta, Slieve Divena 2, Binnawooda, Dunaree Hill) and negotiated conditions.
Results
- As a ‘plug and play’ type project, SK2 had the potential to deliver an additional 11.5MW towards renewable energy targets as there was no need for any additional infrastructure work. SK2 was SSE’S #1 NI investment priority at that time since few, if any, wind projects in the planning system could deliver energy to the grid as quickly as SK2.
- Slieve Kirk Wind Park is the largest wind farm in Northern Ireland. It can generate 73.5MW of clean, green energy to power almost 65,000 homes.
