The ESB is to dismantle its wind farm at Derrybrien in south Galway after it failed to secure retrospective planning permission for the project.
The 70-turbine wind farm, which was one of the largest onshore when commissioned in 2006, supplies about one per cent of electricity needs nationally.
Located on the Slieve Aughty mountains, it has been mired in controversy since a landslide killed thousands of fish and engulfed forestry and farmland during its construction in 2003 at a cost of €60 million.
Last month An Bord Pleanála refused an application for retrospective planning permission for the project lodged by Gort Wind Farms Ltd, an ESB subsidiary.
The application was made after a ruling at the EU Court of Justice found that Ireland breached environmental regulations in relation to the construction of the wind farm.
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State inaction on the initial EU Court of Justice ruling resulted in a lump sum fine of €5 million and daily fines of €15,000 being levied on Ireland from 2019, amounting to more than €17 million to date.
After the planning board’s ruling on February 4, the ESB paused generation from the wind farm.
“Following careful consideration ESB has now decided to decommission the wind farm,” the company said yesterday. “ESB will now prepare for the decommissioning of the 70 wind turbines in accordance with planning laws and regulations.”
A spokesman for the ESB said no date has been set for the decommissioning, which would have occurred in 2040 if the farm had been allowed to continue operating. The spokesman said specialist contractors would have to be engaged and that no cost could be confirmed due to commercial sensitivities. “We will engage with the local community,” the spokesman added.
Martin Collins, of Friends of Derrybrien Environment, said: “This is an inevitable decision and there are no winners, but this is the outcome when people didn’t listen and didn’t work with the local community.”
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Derrybrien is one of 26 wind farms owned by the ESB and subsidiaries, with 17 in Ireland, six in Northern Ireland and three in Britain. It is also working on a number of offshore wind farms.
An Bord Pleanála had cited “significant effects on the environment” with “permanent residual effects that cannot be fully mitigated” in its decision to refuse retrospective planning approval for the project.
The board had overruled a recommendation in favour of retention by its own inspector.
The European Commission had found that Ireland did not properly implement a directive on environmental impact assessment in approving permission for the project.
Ireland did not retrospectively assess the development in 2008 as a result of the European Court of Justice ruling.