A wind farm in County Tyrone has finally been given the go-ahead after planning application was resubmitted. Wind Farm Developments, a joint project between B9 Energy Services and Renewable Energy Systems, has been granted permission for its six turbine Lough Hill plant near Drumquin. It is anticipated the venture will generate enough renewable electricity to power up to 7,000 homes.
The initial application had been delayed as some of the turbines were proposed for land owned by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), but under the new application they will be built on privately owned land. The project is no stranger to compromise, and in the early planning stages there were some initial objections over visual intrusion which resulted in the height of the turbines being reduced by 10 metres.
Northern Ireland has a target to meet 12% of its electricity demand by 2012 from clean renewable energy, and currently only around 3% comes from such sources. Therefore the Lough Hill plant will provide a significant boost to this contribution. Construction will begin later this year, with completion expected by the end of 2007.
