Lisheen III Windfarm shortlisted for the Engineers Ireland ‘Geoscience Ireland Award’
This shortlisted windfarm project takes a considerable amount of environmental and sustainability issues into account, whilst improving conditions for socio-economic growth by strengthening power supply and infrastructure in the local region. The wind farm, to be developed by Brookfield Renewable Ireland, will have the capacity to generate 24MW of electricity for distribution to the Grid for 25 years, with a carbon payback period of below one year.
Of particular concern was the location of the wind farm in close proximity to an internationally renowned pNHA, “The Lisheen Mine”. Specifically, the mine was due to close resulting in the mine flooding and altering the underlying cone of depression. TOBIN carried out an assessment of the potential future impact on the aquifer and ground conditions underlying the proposed turbine locations.
The ground investigations and the interpretation and evaluation undertaken also provided critical data and crucially informed the Geotechnical and Soil Stability Assessment for the design of the wind farm. The final layout reflected the iterative engineering and environmental analysis approach adopted, which informed and identified areas suitable for construction works. The use of floating road construction solutions in peat areas, with depths of in excess of six metres, negated the need for the excavation of up to 50,000m3 of peat and the replacement of this material with stone.
TOBIN ensured the completion of the time-critical elements of project work in order to sequence the communication of the required information to the individual engineers and environmental specialists.
