August 26, 2013
Isle of Man

Plans for giant wind farm go on display in library

26 August 2013 | www.iomtoday.co.im

Energy giant DONG has applied for planning consent to build an extension to its Walney wind farm, which will be located 31km south east of the Isle of Man.

Copies of its application form to the UK planning inspectorate, together with maps and plans of the project, have gone on display at the Henry Bloom Library in Victoria Street, Douglas, until September 20.

The proposed extension will double the area of the existing Walney offshore wind farm by installing up to 207 turbines measuring up to 222m high.

It will cover an area of up to 149 square km and generate up to 750 megawatts (MW) of electricity – enough to meet the average needs of about 657,000 homes. Electricity will be transmitted via underground cables to a new substation at Heysham.

Walney is the largest offshore wind farm in the world, generating 367 MW of electricity, sufficient to power about 320,000 homes. It was officially opened by UK Energy Secretary Edward Davey in February last year.

While the Walney extension project will not impinge on lifelife ferry routes, there are concerns that the cumulative effect of various schemes planned in the Irish Sea will disrupt Steam Packet routes.

Isle of Man Newspapers’s Don’t Cut us Off campaign against over-intensive wind farm development resulted in 1,265 petition forms being signed.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/08/26/plans-for-giant-wind-farm-go-on-display-in-library/