New Government Report spells disaster for on-shore Wind Energy

Paul Thomas Rowland

Dermot McDonnell wrote: »

Questions included

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
564. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if the recently put together Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland wind atlas has been provided to An Bord Pleanála; if it will have an influence on the putting together of revised wind turbine guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17752/15]
..

Minister Kelly did not answer the question but Minister White did, last year, before this thread started.

Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein):
To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources further to Parliamentary Question No. 413 of 19 November 2013, the role that was played by the ESB and Bord na Móna project management team for the proposed Oweninny wind farm, County Mayo, in the preparation of the new Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland wind atlas; if the new wind atlas has been made available to An Bord Pleanála; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37296/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour):
I am advised by the SEAI that in August 2011 the SEAI advertised a Request for Tenders on the Government eTenders website for Provision of Services to Update the Wind Atlas for Ireland. Arising from this process, UK Met Office Consulting Services were selected to carry out the work and issued with a contract in May 2012.

To support the execution of the contract, the SEAI requested Bord na Mona and ESB to provide useful meteorological mast monitoring data from their wind farm sites to UK Met Office Consulting Services. This data was used by the contractor in the validation of the remodelled wind atlas datasets.

The SEAI is currently in the process of updating its online Geographical Information System to make the new wind atlas available to the public. This is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

In the interim, the SEAI has made the new wind atlas datasets available on request to professional Geographical Information Systems users and other organisations. The datasets are available to An Bord Pleanála (ABP) should ABP wish to use them.

The wind atlas was primarily intended as an information tool for local authorities in identifying areas suitable for renewable energy development within County Development Plans. Local authorities have subsequently utilised the SEAI wind atlas as a basis for developing county wind energy strategies.

LiamMayo

Paul Thomas Rowland wrote: »

....The roughness length value there is 50 times the expected value so it utterly fails the most basic sanity test for that location.

it is worse than that. the minister told the dail in answer to question 194 of 1st october, 2014

Set out below are the average annual windspeeds, obtained from the SEAI, for the proposed locations of the Oweninny and Cluddaun wind farm sites at hub heights of 50m, 75m, 100m and 125m, for both the 2003, and the newer 2013, SEAI wind atlases. The speeds are set out in metres per second, m/s.

2003 SEAI Wind Atlas

Oweninny: 50m: 8.3m/s 75m: 8.8m/s 100m: 9.1m/s 125m: not available for 2003 wind atlas

Cluddaun: 50m: 7.9m/s 75m: 8.7m/s 100m: 9.2m/s 125m: not available for 2003 wind atlas

New (2013) SEAI wind atlas

Oweninny: 50m: 6.3m/s 75m: 7.1m/s 100m: 7.7m/s 125m: 8.1m/s

Cluddaun: 50m: 7.3m/s 75m: 8m/s 100m: 8.55m/s 125m: 9m/s



using the 50m and 75m figures for oweninny, you can see that the roughness length in the 2013 wind atlas is greater than 100 times the value in the 2003 wind atlas.

LiamMayo

any news?

nice_guy80

there are plenty of uninhabited islands off the west and south coast where turbines could be built on and around.

if the will was there to do so

Paul Thomas Rowland

LiamMayo wrote: »

any news?

Lots of news, all of it good, some excellent. However, the lawyers advise total radio silence. See you in Court