The ESB has confirmed that it is to decommission the controversial Derrybrien wind farm in Co. Galway.

This news comes following the decision of An Bord Pleanála in February not to grant retrospective planning permission for the wind farm.

The board said that remedial works carried out at the site could not mitigate the environmental impact which it said was “clear, profound and unacceptable”.

Since then, operations at the 70-turbine wind farm in the northern part of the Slieve Aughty mountains have ceased.

In a statement today (Wednesday, March 16) the ESB said that following “careful consideration” it has decided to decommission the site in accordance with planning laws and regulation.

“ESB, through its wholly owned subsidiary Gort Windfarms Ltd, is to decommission the Derrybrien Wind Farm in Galway.”

A spokesperson for ESB told Agriland that this means that all 70 wind turbines will be dismantled and removed from the site.

A process will have to be gone through to complete the decommissioning, which, the spokesperson said, will take a number of months.

Brief history

In 2003, there was a major landslide as the wind farm was being constructed by Gort Windfarms Ltd, which had “significant effects on the environment”.

In November 2019, Ireland was fined €5 million in the European Court of Justice for the state’s failure to carry out an environmental impact assessment at the site.

Since then, a further €15,000 a day has been added by the court meaning that the Irish taxpayer is currently facing a €17 million fine.

To date, the State has paid over €13 million to the European Commission in relation to the case.