Smulgedon Wind Farm
About the project
Smulgedon Wind Farm is located on land approximately 9km to the north east of Dungiven Northern Ireland. It will be connected to the new Garvagh-Agivey SONI Grid Substation utilising underground cables.
The wind farm has the capability to produce in excess of 40 GWh of renewable electricity. This is enough clean green energy to supply 9,660 homes and to reduce CO2 emissions by 29,000 tonnes. This project will aid the government in reaching its decarbonisation and renewable energy generation targets outlined in “setting a target for the decarbonisation of Northern Ireland’s energy sector by 2050” and setting commissioning research into how to reach a 70% renewable electricity target by 2030.
Project Information
The consented Smulgedon wind farm is located approximately 9km to the northeast of Dungiven in Northern Ireland (see Figure 1 below).
The location was determined through independent desk based constraint analysis by various specialists for ecology, ornithology, access, wind resource, archaeology, heritage and landscape and visual. This amendment application is being proposed to increase the blade diameter, but not increase the overall turbine heights. The extent of the minor changes is evident within the figures contained in the Landscape section of this website.
The total installed capacity of the Proposed amended Development will be up to 16.1MW. This will result in the site being maximised for renewable energy production with minimal changes to the original consent.
Apart from the increased blade diameter and a minor change to the crane pads, no other elements of the development will require any changes. In line with the current consent the Proposed Development will consist of 7 turbines, with associated infrastructure including access tracks, turbine transformers, single storey control building and substation and underground power cables. A meteorological mast has been erected to monitor the wind speed in the development area under planning consent B/2009/0070/F
The development is expected to generate electricity for 30 years, after which time the site will either be reinstated or the life of the development extended, subject to consent.
It is proposed that the wind farm will be connected to the local electricity grid via a substation building on site. An application for the grid connection between the on-site substation and the national grid has been secured through a separate consent.
Planning Background
Planning permission for the consented wind farm was granted on 2nd of October 2012 under planning reference B/2009/0070/F. Currently all necessary planning conditions have been discharged and initial development has already commenced on site. It is currently estimated construction will take place over a 6-8 month period after which time the wind farm would then become operational and generate electricity for a 30 year period.
A local community benefit fund will also be established when the wind farm starts to generate electricity and will be administered by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland.
Project Location
The map adjacent shows the approximate location of the Smulgedon wind farm