Up to 300 jobs will be created with the construction of a cooperative wind farm in Co. Clare.
West Clare Renewable Energy (WCRE) Ltd has been granted planning permission to construct the largest community owned wind farm in Ireland.
It plans to construct 28 wind turbines on the western slopes of Mount Callan between Ennis and Miltown Malbay.
The company says the €200 million project will be capable of generating enough electricity to power every home and business in Co. Clare.
WCRE chairman Padraig Howard said “Mount Callan offered the perfect combination of wind resource, transmission lines and available land for wind farms”.
“Mount Callan has long been associated with energy production and for decades supplied peat to power stations in the region. In more recent times large scale commercial forestry had become the energy crop of choice on the mountain” he added.
He also said it is part of a bigger plan for the county.
“They basically set down a marker that they want Co. Clare to become the leading county in the country for renewable energy” he said.
“It’s my opinion that this project and others like it can lead the way in a sustainable economic recovery; not alone for Co. Clare and the West of Ireland but Ireland Inc., if you like” he added.
WCRE is comprised of renewable energy firm West Clare Renewables and 30 farm families who collectively own 3,000 acres of primarily upland properties on Mount Callan.
The landowners have a majority shareholding in the company and have also included a significant community fund aspect to the project.
