Northern Wind Power Limited
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NORTHERN WIND POWER LIMITED CARRICKATANE WIND ENERGY PROJECT COUNTY LONDONDERRY / TYRONE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY January 2005 Stephen Court, 18/21 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland. Telephone: +353-1-7038000 Fax: +353-1-6616600 Environmental Impact Statement January 2005 Carrickatane Wind Energy Project Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................1 1.1 SCOPE.................................................................................................................................1 1.2 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................1 2. THE PROJECT............................................................................1 2.1 PROJECT OUTPUT AND DESIGN.............................................................................................1 2.2 ALTERNATIVES .....................................................................................................................2 3. POLICY CONTEXT .....................................................................3 3.1 ENERGY POLICY...................................................................................................................3 3.2 PLANNING POLICY ................................................................................................................3 4. SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT ..................3 4.1 HUMAN BEINGS AND SOCIO-ECONOMICS ...............................................................................4 4.2 NOISE ..................................................................................................................................4 4.3 SHADOW FLICKER ................................................................................................................5 4.4 ECOLOGY.............................................................................................................................5 4.5 LANDSCAPE .........................................................................................................................6 4.6 AIR QUALITY AND CLIMATE....................................................................................................7 4.7 SOILS AND DRAINAGE ...........................................................................................................7 4.8 MATERIAL ASSETS................................................................................................................8 4.9 ARCHAEOLOGY.....................................................................................................................9 4.10 GENERAL ISSUES & INTERACTION OF IMPACTS.....................................................................10 5. CONCLUSION...........................................................................10 Table of Contents Page i/i Environmental Impact Statement January 2005 Carrickatane Wind Energy Project 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Scope Northern Wind Power Limited, which is a wholly-owned independent subsidiary company of Electricity Supply Board (ESB), intends to develop Carrickatane Wind Energy Project at a site that forms part of Slievekirk Mountain and lies about 4 km from Donemana, Co. Tyrone. The wind farm will comprise 15 wind turbines, which will be used to harness the natural energy of the wind to generate electricity. An Environmental Impact Assessment has been prepared to examine the likely significant impacts of the project on the environment. The results are presented in this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which supports a full planning application. The conclusions of the EIS are contained in this Non-Technical Summary. Consultations with various interested parties took place during the preparation of the EIS. 1.2 Background Ireland has one of the best wind resources in the world but its exploitation has lagged developments elsewhere in Europe. By the end of 2002, approximately 32,000 megawatts (MW) of wind energy generating capacity had been installed globally. Growth has been particularly strong in Europe but to date Ireland’s contribution to the installed capacity has been very small. Only approximately 170 MW of wind energy capacity had been installed in Ireland (north and south) by the end of 2003. This contrasts with about 3,000 MW of wind energy capacity in Denmark, despite Ireland’s better wind resource. Renewable sources of energy, such as will result from the Carrickatane Wind Energy Project, offer sustainable alternatives to our dependency on fossil fuels, a means of reducing harmful greenhouse emissions and opportunities to reduce our reliance on imported fuels. For these reasons, European, UK and Northern Ireland policy supports the increased use of renewable energy. 2. THE PROJECT 2.1 Project Output and Design Turbines will have a mast height of about 70 metres (m) and three blades, each up to 45 m long. A fenced Switchyard will contain a single-storey Control Building and a Substation with electrical equipment. The basis of wind turbine operation is as follows: A yaw mechanism turns the turbines so that they face the wind. The blades of the turbine rotate at a rate of once every 3 – 5 seconds, depending on wind speed. The rotation of the blades rotates a generator within a nacelle (housing) located at the turbine hub to produce the electrical power output. Non-Technical Summary Page 1/13 Environmental Impact Statement January 2005 Carrickatane Wind Energy Project The electricity generated is fed via underground cables to electrical transformers where it is transformed to a higher voltage for supply to the electricity grid. Sensors are used to monitor wind direction and the tower head is turned to line up with the wind. The turbines will commence operation at wind speeds of about 4 metres per second (m/s), will attain maximum output at about 15 m/s and will shut down when the wind speed reaches about 25 m/s to protect them from damage. Power will be controlled automatically as wind speed varies. The wind turbines will be selected from a range of models that have been demonstrated successfully throughout Europe and certified to the highest international standard. The contract to supply and construct the wind farm will be open to international competition. Because sizes of wind turbines are particular to the design of individual manufacturers, the exact rating of the turbines cannot be specified at this stage without prejudice or favour to a particular manufacturer. However, the rated electrical output is expected to be up to approximately 45 MW. The result of the tendering process will be the award of a contract for a particular model of wind turbine. Construction will principally involve the following: Provision of turbine access tracks and cranepads and excavation and construction of reinforced concrete bases with cast-in steel foundation section for towers. The erection by crane of the pre-fabricated turbine towers and the installation of turbines and rotor blades. Construction of a Control Building / Substation within a Switchyard and installation of underground ducts and cabling from each turbine to it. Installation of a meteorological mast to measure wind speeds. The grid connection that will be necessary for supply of power from the site to the National Grid does not form part of this project. The project will generate almost 150,000,000 kWh (units) of electricity per annum. There are a number of other wind farm proposals in the vicinity. 2.2 Alternatives In the short - medium term at least, current and future demand for electricity generation capacity in Northern Ireland will remain predominantly supplied by fossil fuel plants. However, renewable and alternative sources of power will play an increasingly important role in meeting power needs in the future and in Northern Ireland wind energy currently represents by far the most significant viable option for electricity generation from renewables. The choice of the Carrickatane site is the result of a four-stage systematic site selection process that examined site suitability based a number of criteria. Carrickatane is one of the limited number of sites at which it has been determined that a wind farm development is viable and will be pursued. Amongst the factors that determine the suitability of this site are wind speed, the absence of designation for nature conservation, favourable ground conditions for civil engineering construction, minimum interference with established land uses, distance from heavily populated centres and the acceptable levels of environmental impacts. Non-Technical Summary Page 2/13 Environmental Impact Statement January 2005 Carrickatane Wind Energy Project The proposed layout was developed in an iterative manner taking on board the various constraints in the technical, planning, commercial and environmental aspects of the proposal. Avoiding interference with a communications link that passes through the site was a key issue in developing the proposed arrangement. Alternative sizes and arrangements for wind turbines convey no significant environmental benefits. 3. POLICY CONTEXT 3.1 Energy Policy There is strong support for renewable energy development at European, UK and Northern Ireland levels. The development of renewable energy, including energy from wind, is a central aim energy policy at European level. The EU Renewables Directive has targets regarding increasing the share of green electricity from 14% to 22% of gross electricity consumption by 2010, doubling