Frequently asked questions.
Q. Where is the farm going to be situated?
The proposed Cooloo Wind Farm will be located approximately 11km east of Tuam, 2.5km east of Barnaderg, and 5.6km west of Moylough within the townlands of Cooloo, Elmhill, Cloonascragh, Leacarrow, Polladooey and Dangan in Co Galway.
Q. How many turbines will the farm include?
It is envisaged that the wind farm project will consist of up to nine turbines and a battery storage facility.
Q. How tall will the turbines be?
Each of the turbine rotors will have a diameter of up to 162m and a tip height of up to 180m.
Q. How much energy will the farm create?
Once fully operational, the wind farm will generate up to 64 mw.
Q. Who are the developers?
The Cooloo Wind Farm project is being developed by Neoen. Neoen is one of the leading producers of renewable energy worldwide, operating in 17 countries and on four continents, and with a capacity of more than 6.6 GW in operation or under construction. Neoen has been active in Ireland since 2016 and currently operates eight wind farms here.
Q. How much of an impact will the project have on the environment?
Over the last few years, extensive ecological, ornithological and environmental surveys have been carried out on the lands at the proposed wind farm site. These studies then inform the layout of the site. An Environmental Impact Assessment Report will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála along with the application for planning permission and will be publicly accessible.
Q. How do you stop wind turbines impacting the landscape?
We understand that wind turbines do alter the landscape but we are committed to working with communities to ensure our projects have the least impact on visual amenity. We encourage individuals and groups with questions about visual impact and solutions to engage with us early.
Q. Can wind turbine noise affect local residents?
Before it can operate, a wind farm has to demonstrate that noise levels at neighbouring residences will meet strict noise limits. These limits are designed to ensure that noise from a wind farm is not intrusive for the average person. This will be detailed as part of our planning submission.
Q. Can wind turbines cause shadow flicker?
It is not allowable for a turbine to cause shadow flicker at a property. If our models show a property will be affected by shadow flicker the turbine responsible is switched off during the times when shadow flicker is expected to occur.
Q. Can land beneath a turbine still be used for farming activity?
Yes, very little land is taken up by wind turbines. Farmers across Ireland continue to rear livestock and grow crops on the land where the wind turbine is located. There would be some disruption to farming activity during the construction of the wind farm but once it is operational, farming can continue as normal.
Q. What are the next phases of the development process?
Neoen will be engaging in a programme of community consultation over the coming months and hopes to hear the thoughts and viewpoints of residents, landowners and other local stakeholders. This community input will inform the planning application, which, it is hoped, will be submitted to An Bord Planeála in late-2023.
Q. When will a decision on planning permission be made?
It is estimated that a decision on planning permission will be delivered by An Bord Pleanála in 2024.
Q. What benefits will the wind farm provide to the local community?
The local community will be able to avail of the Community Benefit Fund. The law dictates that €2/MW from any energy project under the government’s RESS (Renewable Energy Support Scheme) be returned to the community in which the project is situated every year, to be used as the community collectively deems appropriate.
Q. How long does it take to build a wind farm?
The construction depends on the project size. A general timeframe is at least 18-24 months.
Q. What is the lifecycle of a wind farm?
A wind farm will typically operate for 35 years.
Q. What happens when the project ends?
At the end of a project life cycle, the turbines are removed and the site is rehabilitated.
This is a commitment we make to the landholders and will be required as part of our planning consent. After the assets are removed, most of the materials are reclaimed or recycled. This is because the steel, copper, lithium and other materials they are made of retain significant value.
Proposed Development – Wind Farm
Q. What impact will the proposed development have on the valuation of houses especially within the 1km radius?
There is no empirical evidence that vicinity to a wind farm or a wind turbine has any significant effect, positive or negative, on property prices. Property values are much more sensitive to the wider influences which affect prices on a regional and national basis. There has been no specific research carried out on this topic in Ireland as of yet, but a study published in Scotland in October 2016 found that proximity to a wind turbine produced “No evidence of a consistent negative effect on house prices”. (https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/media/1359/cxc_wind_farms_impact_on_house_prices_final_17_oct_2016.pdf)
Q. What are the noise levels to houses within the 1 km radius?
The planning application which will be prepared for the proposed development will be the subject of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which will include an assessment of the potential noise impacts from both the construction of the proposed development and its operation post construction.
Baseline noise surveys have been undertaken to provide a background noise reading for the area in the absence of the proposed development. This information is being used to inform the impact assessment of the proposed development. The results of noise modelling will be set out in the EIA Report.
Projects such as that proposed, if granted planning permission are conditioned to a noise threshold. The noise condition that is commonly set out are as follows:
· The greater of 5dB above background noise levels or 45db during daytime hours.
· And 43dB at all other times.
The purpose of the noise limit is to ensure that there is no significant noise impact arising from the operation of the proposed wind farm.
Q. What happens to the water levels with all this concrete going into the bog?
The planning application which will be prepared for the proposed development will be the subject of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which will include an assessment of the hydrology and hydrogeology of the area. The site investigations to date have been used to inform project design and optimum construction methodology, particularly with regard to the ground water levels and suitability of the ground conditions for the proposed development.
To date, investigate boreholes have been drilled with monitoring ongoing all of which will be used to model and understand groundwater interactions and all of which will be considered as part of the EIA.
Q. Will land adjacent/around the turbines be fenced to protect livestock?
This will be discussed and agreed with each individual landowner whose land is involved. This is not mandatory.
Q. Will there be any walkways?
Wind farms that are located on private lands typically do not have public access as the lands are being used by the owners for a range of uses such as agriculture or forestry. The community gain fund that will be generated as part of the project during the operational stage can be directed towards the development of amenity in the wider area on suitable consenting private and/or public lands. The use of the funds for this purpose can be discussed in detail prior to the commissioning of the wind farm.
Q. How many homes are within 1km of the proposed wind farm?
39.
Q. What impact will the proposed development have on wildlife in the area and in particular on Whooper Swans etc?
Over three years of bird surveys have been undertaken in the immediate area around the site of the proposed development. This survey effort has provided the necessary level of detail required on bird populations and movement in the area.
Again, the assessment of this data will form part of the EIA as with other disciplines. Where the project layout is required to adopt any changes or mitigation brought on by the findings of the bird surveys and assessment, this will be adopted within the layout and detailed in the EIA Report.
Q. And how will this impact on farmers’ ACRES monies where they have areas designated for this wildlife?
It is up to individual landowners to consider the implications of the development on their own grants. In order for the project to progress it has to be concluded by the consenting authority that it will not have a significant environmental impact on birds.
Q. How many other wind farms/solar farms are NEON developing in the area?
Neoen are not developing any other wind or solar farms in the area at present.
Proposed Development – Substation
Q. The substation, how may acres is it taking up and how large is it?
The substation does not form part of this application. There will be an application to An Bord Pleanála for planning in the future. The total size will be confirmed in this application after consultation with Eirgrid to confirm the point of the connection. There is a requirement to assess potential for impacts associated with the provision of the substation and grid connection in the application for the wind farm. Currently a substation with a footprint of c. 2.8ha is being considered for that assessment.
Q. What health risks are associated with the batteries?
There are no known health risks associated with properly maintained large scale battery installations. The batteries and associated equipment are manufactured, installed, and monitored according to the highest industry safety guidelines and will also be subject to rigorous safety conditions as set down in any grant of permission.
Q. How far should the batteries be located away from Cooloo School?
Neoen generally locate batteries at least 150m away from houses, schools or any occupied buildings.
Q. Will additional land be required to connect to the substation?
This is to be determined after consultation with Eirgrid and will depend on the recommended connection point.
Construction Phase and Employment
Q. What disruption will be caused to locals during the construction phase?
The delivery of materials such as crushed stone and concrete will be the main bulk of raw materials delivered to the site via the public road network.
The main delivery of concrete will occur for the pouring of foundations which will occur over 9 days. Other concrete pours will occur over the course of the project but will be much smaller in scale.
Crushed stone deliveries will occur over a more prolonged period. Whilst there is the potential for minor disruption during the works, the project will be required to have in place a traffic management plan which will be agreed with the local authority in advance of the works. There will also be a requirement for the provision of a community liaison where specific access requirements need to be agreed for busy periods for farmers e.g. silage cutting etc.
Furthermore, the traffic section of the EIA Report will assess the likely traffic impacts associated with the works. This assessment will also examine the delivery of abnormal loads such as turbine components most of which will be delivered at nighttime due to the scale of the equipment and the vehicles required to haul them.
Q. What employment will be available for the local community?
Neoen’s policy is to engage local suppliers where possible. We will be able to determine this better when the application is granted and we know we can build and when.
Q. How will the turbines get to site – how will they navigate through the bends and bridges from Abbeyknockmoy onwards?
The route is available to view on the project website www.cooloowindfarm.com. An assessment has been run to ensure the suitability of the route and this will form part of the planning application.
Turbine delivery will use the permitted Liss to Abbey Realignment Scheme which has been approved by An Bord Pleanála.
Q. How long will construction take?
On average a wind farm will take from 18-24 months to construct.
Q. Will local suppliers, quarries be used?
It is our intention to use local quarries where possible.
Public Consultation
Q. Please outline how Moylough community groups were consulted or notified of meetings or liaised as numerous groups have stated they have received no engagement to date.
The Public Information Event was advertised in the Tuam Herald on January 24th via both an advertisement and a press release one week out from the event. Also every home within a 2km radius of the turbines received a leaflet through their doors a week in advance of the event, notifying them of the event.
Last April local schools and sporting clubs received project info in a mailout.
Q. Is there an option to sign up to a mailing/email list for updates on the project?
All project updates will be publicised via the project website www.cooloowindfarm.com
Q. Please explain why no information sessions were held in Moylough Hall given that the maps of the development indicate that seven of the nine turbines are to be located in Moylough Parish and the development bears the name Cooloo which is in Moylough Parish?
The Public Information Event was held in the hall in Barnaderg because that was the closest suitable venue to the site of the development. All communities were invited to attend via the newspaper advertisement in the Tuam Herald and the invite that was delivered door to door.
Planning Application
Q. When do you intend to submit an application?
It is hoped that the application for planning permission will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála before the end of Q2 2024.
Q. How will the local community be informed that an application has been submitted?
The notice of the submission of the application will be published in a relevant newspaper. Site notices will also be erected around the perimeter of the site to alert the local community. There will also be a notification on the project website www.cooloowindfarm.com, where all relevant documentation will also be published at this time.
It is our intention to do one more leaflet drop to the local community approx. six weeks out from submission to inform the community.
Planning Application Cont…
Q. When and to whom will an application for the grid connection be made?
The application for the grid connection will also be made to An Bord Pleanála. We cannot know for sure when this application will be made as it will depend on the response to the application for the wind turbines and may be impacted by any conditions imposed on that grant, and also on consultation with Eirgrid.
Q. Given the poor broadband service in the area, will a copy of the planning application be made locally available for people to review?
We can arrange for a copy of the application to be printed on hard copy and made available. We would need guidance on where the most appropriate location would be for the hard copy version to be displayed and how it will be accessed.
Q. Why is an application not going to Galway County Council?
This project is categorised as a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) because its installed capacity will be over 50MW. Projects categorised as SID are defined in legislation as being nationally significant and therefore the applications are required to be sent directly to An Bord Pleanála instead of to the local authority, which is Galway County Council in this case. We continue to engage with Galway County Council on this application because they are a consultee on the project.
Community Fund
Given that the maps of the development indicate that seven of the nine turbines are to be located in Moylough Parish and the development bears the name Cooloo which is in Moylough Parish, any Community Funding for Community groups must be directed to those groups in the parish local area as is required under rules of these type of developments. In this case this would be The Moylough area.
The Fund Committee will seek applications for funding and will make decisions about where the funding is to be allocated based on the terms of reference set out by the committee and in line with government policy.
It would be good practice for the new Fund Committee to determine a funding strategy or community action plan for the Fund. This means identifying the best ways to maximise the impact of the Fund for the local community and to devise strategic plans towards that end. A specific objective here is to identify substantive areas of funding priority that are likely to have an enduring positive impact on the community. The strategic plans should in particular focus on the UN SDGs.
Q. Will priority for funding be given to Moylough?
The Fund Committee will seek applications for funding for projects from local groups. No one area should be given priority over any other. Groups within a 10km radius of the windfarm will be entitled to apply for funding provided their project fulfils the criteria. This is separate to near neighbour payments which is an agreed amount, not less than €1,000 p.a. which will be paid to households within 1km of the proposed development.
Q. Who will Administrate the Fund?
The Fund Committee will be made up of not less than 5 members to include the developer and an independent administrator, and not more than 14 people. This committee will be mostly made up of local volunteers who will ensure the terms of reference of the fund are adhered to. Committee members should represent a cross section of the community.
The committee should have a balanced spread of members between different areas and also between different sorts of groups, i.e. community councils, sports clubs, Tidy Towns, etc.
Q. How can the local community nominate/put forward representatives for the Fund Committee?
The fund, and therefore the committee to administer the fund, only comes into being once the wind farm is built and operational. At that stage, the independent administrator will be appointed and they will seek nominations for the committee.
Q. Regardless of the route to market, will the developer commit to providing a community benefit fund to the area for a minimum of 15 years in line with RESS (Regardless of if it is in RESS or not)?
This is an option Neoen are exploring and will be confirmed prior to the application being lodged with An Bord Pleanála.
Q. Will this commitment be stated in the planning application?
As above.
Q. Regardless of the route to market, will the developer commit to providing a near neighbour fund to homes within 1km of a turbine for a minimum of 15 years in line with RESS (Regardless of if it is in RESS or not)?
Neoen are exploring this option and this will be confirmed as part of the planning application.
Q. Will this commitment be stated in the planning application?
As above.
Q. In the information material, the installed capacity is in excess of 64MW. However, the community Fund is only valued at circa 300k. Based on these figures, it would appear that a capacity factor significantly below the national average has been used to calculate the proposed output. Could you please advise of the
a. expected export capacity of the wind farm?
b. Expected capacity factor for the wind farm?
The application states that the capacity will be up to 64 MW.
The c. €300k figure was provided as a minimum (based on the current estimated layout and capacity), not a maximum. The actual fund will be influenced by the installed turbines and the wind regime for each individual year during operation.
Q. Is the proposed 300k community fund – inclusive of the 10% that can be deducted towards administration of the Fund?
Yes, the administration fees would be drawn from the fund. It should be noted that 10 per cent is the limit that can be spent on admin, and the actual percentage of the fund spent on admin could be much less. Also, the €300k community fund is indicative as detailed above.
Q. How many wind farms does NEOEN own and operate in Ireland?
Neoen currently has eight operational wind farms in Ireland.
Q. How many of these have community funds attached to them?
The provision of a Community Benefit Fund is a prerequisite for any wind farm operating under the RESS guidelines. Neoen took ownership of the eight windfarms in a purchase agreement completed in 2019 – the wind farms were pre-existent and were not originally developed by Neoen. These wind farms were commissioned between 1998 and 2012, before the introduction of the RESS auction system.
There is/was no requirement for Community Benefit Fund, but Neoen have been responding positively to several solicitations for funding support with for example donations made towards the construction of a school sport facility. Several requests are currently being assessed.
Neoen also just commissioned 3 solar farms in Ireland, which were awarded in the framework of RESS 1.
Tailormade community benefits are being implemented in consultation with SEAI. Neoen already performed scoping studies aiming to identify opportunities, in consultation with local communities, for the strategic and impactful investment of funds resulting from the operation for Neoen’s assets. That engagement aims to:
- Consult with local communities on areas of greatest need
- Identify and articulate opportunities for community benefit fund investment
- Highlight specific/unique characteristics of the region(s) that should be taken into consideration in the development of fund criteria and grant assessment
- Identify non-profit/community development organisations within each region that may benefit from participating in the funding scheme
For those 3 projects (58 MWp), it will be c.€100k annually.
Q. Of those that have community funds, was it provided voluntary from NEOEN or as a result of a condition of planning?
As presented above, there was no requirement in the planning.
Q. Will the Fund prioritise projects within 10km of the proposed development?
The RESS guidelines state that projects within 10km of the development are to be prioritised. As presented above Neoen will provide more details in our planning application with regards to our community benefit fund strategy with or without RESS, but this is indeed our intention to prioritise projects in the close proximity of the wind farm.