Glen Ullinish

Green Cat were engaged as planning and environmental consultants to develop the Glen Ullinish Wind Farm project from initial conception, through project design, consultation, full EIA and eventual consent. The project consists of 14 wind turbines of 120m to tip height with an annual energy output of 111,000MWh/yr and is capable of providing electricity to power 25,000 homes.

The development site had complex on-site constraints. The final layout design is the result ofan extensive and diligent design process which aimed to strike the optimum balance between minimising environmental impact, respecting engineering requirements andensuring a viable scheme in terms of energy production. The key design principles behind the proposed scheme aimed to:

• Minimise and orient the wind farm envelope to limit any potential collision risk to sensitive bird species;
• Design a layout that will create a harmonious and sympathetic layout when viewed from key sensitive locations both on its own and considered alongside cumulative projects;
• Select a scale of wind turbine that will be in keeping with the surrounding landscape when viewed from key areas and in conjunction with notable landscape features;
• Minimise the potential risk of disruption to local archaeological remains present on site;
• Avoid or minimise the disruption to sensitive ecological and wetland habitats;
• Incorporate suitable mitigation measures, where appropriate, to reduce predicted impacts down to acceptable levels.

Extensive pre-planning consultation was undertaken with the key regulatory authorities and advice given throughout the process was incorporated into the project design and closely followed in the EIA process.

The development gained consent in March 2015 and is awaiting construction.