A PROPOSAL to resume the operation of Derrybrien Wind Farm under a new company such as the Western Commission has been criticised as akin to reselling a “dangerous, defective, written-off car to a new customer”.
On the 19th anniversary of the landslide at Derrybrien and the seventh anniversary of the Supreme Court Judgement, Friends of Derrybrien Environment have claimed supporters of the Save Derrybrien Windfarm are engaging in a “futile and misleading campaign with no prospect of success” to protect an illegal and loss-making development.
In a hard hitting statement issued to the Clare Champion, Martin Collins of Friends of Derrybrien Environment has alleged the “bogus calls” to reopen/recommission the wind farm is a
continuation of the controversy that the commentators themselves complain about.
“It is very disturbing that some legislators refuse to recognise the imperative of ensuring that planning and environmental regulations must apply to all equally,” he stated.
“The government and the ESB have reluctantly accepted that this is an illegal, unauthorised development. For 14 years the ESB thrust their head in the sands and pretended that the 2008 Decision of the ECJ did not apply to this unauthorised development and domestic courts and regulators enabled this masquerade.
“Now when even they recognise that time’s up, others pretend that domestic legislators can somehow save the situation by continuing the pretence.
“On foot of a Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruling on July 3, 2008 and November 12, 2019 a Substitute Consent application was lodged by the ESB.
“This was refused permission by An Bord Pleanála on February 4 2022, the wind farm is therefore an unauthorised and illegal development since that date.
“This is an Irish-made debacle. The CJEU and the European Commission has a critical role to ensure compliance with laws and directives which Ireland agreed to and signed up to and are necessary to protect our citizens, our environment and our biodiversity.”
The letter states that arguments put forward by the commentators are “in reality, simplistic populist rhetoric and have no basis in law or fact”.
They state that the proposal for the wind farm to be taken from the ESB and put into public ownership with profits ring-fenced for the local community and environmental benefit fund is “irresponsible and divisive political shenanigans”.
They further state that to do so would be “illegal and immoral”.
Citing the An Bord Pleanála ruling, Mr Collins pointed out the board found “significant effects on the environment occurred with significant permanent residual effects that cannot be fully mitigated, regardless of who owns or operates the wind farm”.
Therefore regardless of who owns or operates the wind farm there are significant residual effects on the environment that cannot be mitigated.
He stressed there is no law in existence to remove ownership from the ESB, which is a publicly owned company and there is no legal basis or criteria to bestow ownership of the unauthorised development to a new entity.
According to the Gort Windfarms Ltd Financial Statement for year ended December 31, 2020, the wind farm at Derrybrien made a loss of € 1.1 million in 2019 and a loss of €2.5 million in 2020.
The company’s Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2021 showed that the wind farm made a loss of €15.7 million in 2021.
In recent years, approximately 86 crane operations were required to repair and replace gearbox and generator systems on 55 of the turbines with 15 turbines requiring more than one repair or replacement system.
Mr Collins rejected suggestions the wind farm can be switched on to supply electricity for 50,000 homes as it had a load capacity of 24.3% in 2018, 24% in 2017 and 23.2% in 2016.
He pointed out Eirgrid’s 2021 Annual Report made it crystal clear the risk of blackouts is at a time of low wind when there would be little or no production of electricity at Derrybrien.
“The intermittency and unreliability of wind power is part of the problem we are facing. Because of the erratic and unpredictable nature of wind power for every unit of electricity that it
produces we require immediate access to another unit produced mainly by fossil fuels as there are many occasions throughout the year that very low levels of electricity is produced by wind
turbines,” he said.
He stressed there is a legal requirement for a proper Environmental Impact Assessment to safely remove the wind farm infrastructure, how it is to be removed and what is to be left in situ.
He alleged 30 families who were cutting a domestic supply of turf to heat their homes at Derrybrien Bog were effectively evicted from their property in 2021 and 2022, forcing them to pursue legal action at their own expense.
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.