Energy firms seek planning changes to allow offshore wind farms to run indefinitely

Wind energy companies are calling for changes to the planning regulations to allow onshore wind farms to operate indefinitely. They say granting planning permission for set periods of 20 to 25 years as often happens makes no sense when turbines can often operate safely and profitably for much longer. Scores of wind farms will be coming to the end of their planning permissions over the next five to ten years.Their owners will then face the options of decommissioning and removing them, applying for planning permission to retain them or seeking permission to repower them – replacing parts with modern, more powerful versions. READ MOREIndustry body Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) said it needs a “clear planning and regulatory pathway that supports repowering and lifetime extension projects”. The issue is particularly complex where wind farms are on or near sites that, after they were built, were declared Special Protection Areas to safeguard wild birds. Wind farms in such locations represent a fifth of all the electricity generated by the sector. Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien said during the summer that consultants had been hired to conduct an independent analysis on repowering and extending the life of wind farms. “The project is currently ongoing and the final analysis will help to inform the requirement for any necessary future policy framework that supports repowering of onshore wind farms,” he said. The issue is one of several the industry is flagging as problematic in an action plan they want the Government to adopt for the sector. Timely grid connections are a serious concern with some wind developers being told they faced waiting years to be connected to the electricity grid. Onshore wind farms have the capacity to generate 5000 megawatts (MW) of electricity but the Government target is to have 9000MW of onshore wind power by 2030. Noel Cunniffe, chief executive of Wind Energy Ireland, said the system needed to connect the next phase of projects was not moving quickly enough. “More than 3,000MW of onshore wind farms already have planning permission. However, some of these projects are now being told they must wait five years and more for a grid connection,” he said. “With projects ready to go, we must build a grid that can be the cornerstone of Irish energy independence.” The action plan, published on Tuesday, also calls for revised guidelines on the locating of wind farms near airports and defence facilities. “WEI members recognise the critical importance of safeguarding aviation, but many identified aviation and defence-related constraints are a significant barrier to new onshore wind development,” the organisation says. “It would be helpful, as has been done in other countries, to establish a more strategic and collaborative approach that brings together Government, AirNav Ireland, the Department of Defence, the Department of Transport, planning authorities and industry.”