FuturEnergy Ireland is holding community clinics for the proposed Scart Mountain Wind Farm as it enters the final phase of public consultation.
The renewable energy project is located on a site approximately 4km northeast of Cappoquin in Co. Waterford.
Community clinics will take place on Tuesday, November 28, 12 pm-8 pm, and Wednesday, November 29, 10 am-4 pm, in The Park Hotel Dungarvan.
The two-day event, which is by appointment only, will give the local community the opportunity to access the most recent information about the project, meet the team, and ask any questions they may have.
This week, CLOs John O’Halloran and Liam Cleary have delivered a final project brochure to homes within 4km of the proposed site.
The Scart Mountain brochure shares information about the project, including details of the wind farm design process and extracts from the Environmental Impact Assessment Report.
There is also a final turbine layout map, which shows 15 turbines. The brochure is also available at www.scartmountainwindfarm.ie. A Virtual Exhibition can also be accessed from the project website above.
This online tour includes project information and photomontages that clearly show what the proposed turbines will look like from different viewpoints.
The Scart Mountain team has been engaging with the community, working with local people, and looking for feedback since the project launched in November 2022.
Scart Mountain is positioned to support the local area in terms of investment in the local economy, employment, and community funding.
Subject to a positive planning determination, this project has the potential to produce more than 270,000 MWh of electricity a year, support a Community Benefit Fund of an estimated €540,000 per annum for 15 years, and a further fund of €270,000 per annum for the remaining operational lifetime of the wind farm.
The ‘lifetime’ fund is an exclusive FuturEnergy Ireland initiative. All told, approximately €12 million would be contributed to the local area via the community funds during the operational 30-year period.
Scart Mountain Wind Farm has the potential to combat climate change by contributing towards the national target of producing 80% of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.
Fifteen turbines would generate enough clean electricity to power between 45,600 and 65,600 Irish households annually.
Emer Campbell, Project Manager for Scart Mountain, says: “This renewable energy proposal comes at a time when we are beginning to see the reality of climate change. Ireland’s unseasonably warm October is part of a bigger weather trend - 2023 is set to be the hottest year ever recorded. This has led to droughts, wildfires, and flash floods in many parts of the world, including Ireland. We need to reduce carbon emissions as quickly as possible to slow down climate change, and the only way to do this at scale is by harnessing our excellent natural resources to generate electricity.”
