Environmental protection
FuturEnergy Ireland takes pride in its leadership position among wind farm developers in Ireland. We work hard to ensure that we are best in class and that our developments reflect this. Environmental protection, including biodiversity, are at the core of our sustainable business processes from commercial forestry through to wind farm development. We ensure that our projects conform to or exceed all statutory requirements and best practice guidelines in relation to environmental protection.
Why this Site?
Identifying a site suitable for a wind farm takes into consideration many different inputs. The suitability of the Study Area for this project can be attributed, in part, to the following characteristics:
- There are good annual average wind speeds in the Study Area.
- The site is located in an area where there are existing wind turbines. It is considered that the landscape can accommodate additional wind turbine development.
- Setback distances from houses can be achieved to align with the latest government guidance. The project team has already committed to a minimum setback of 750 m between a habitable dwelling and a proposed turbine location.
- The Study Area is not designated as a NATURA 2000 site. It is not within a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a Special Protection Area (SPA) nor a Natural Heritage Area (NHA), although some of these areas do exist nearby.
- There is a network of existing forestry and farm roads within the Study Area that can be utilised.
- The Study Area is in an accessible location for connection to the National Electricity Grid via existing electrical substations.
