Ballywater_WindFarm_from_MorrisCastle_Wexford_May2007

The Ballywater Wind Farm is located between the villages of

Kilmuckridge Kilmuckridge (), formerly Ford or The Ford, is a village in County Wexford in Ireland, near the Irish Sea coast. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 722 people, having more than tripled in size (from 235) in the 20 years since ...

and

Ballygarrett Ballygarrett () is a rural village in the southeastern corner of Ireland. It is situated in County Wexford south of Gorey on the R742 regional road. The birthplace of Texas empresario James Power, Ballygarrett is twinned with Refugio, Texa ...

, and beside Ballinoulart in

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

, Ireland. The onshore

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...

, which commenced operation in 2005, has a capacity of 42 MW. It consists of 21 wind turbines, and is visible from the R742 regional road.

Development and sale

The wind farm, which commenced operations in 2005, was sold by the Lanber Group to Gaelectric in 2015. In 2018, the

Commission for Regulation of Utilities The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU, ga, An Coimisiúin um Rialáil Fóntais), formerly known as the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER, ga, An Coimisiún um Rialáil Fuinnimh), is the Republic of Ireland's energy and water econ ...

(CRU) conducted an investigation into potential impact on the grid system as, while the wind farm had consent to generate 31.5MW of output, it was reportedly generating 42MW. Following the investigation, the CRU determined that it was "not in the public interest" to take "enforcement" action on the alleged breach of the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999.

Operation

The E-70 turbines, used at the wind farm, are made by Enercon and have rotor diameters of 70 m. The electricity generated by the turbines at the wind farm is fed into the national electricity grid via a sub-station near Monageer, County Wexford.

References

{{coord, 52.538, -6.238, display=title Wind farms in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in County Wexford