Galway Bay fm newsroom - The first phase of the major Galway Wind Park project has been completed, one month on from a catastrophic forest fire which put the entire development at risk.
Phase 1, which is officially named Comhlacht Gaoithe Teoranta, consists of 22 turbines and has a total export capacity of 66 megawatts.
Ownership of phase 2 of the project will be shared by SSE and Coillte - which is facing multi-million euro losses in forestry following the major fire at Cloosh Valley last month.
It'll consist of another 36 turbines, with an export capacity of 105 megawatts.
When completed by the end of the year, Galway Wind Park will be the largest onshore wind farm in Ireland.
The developers say once complete, the wind farm will help to offset around 190,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels in one year, and will provide renewable electricity for up to 89,000 homes, equivalent to almost 80% of the homes across Galway.
Last month, the Galway Wind Park delivery team, consisting of SSE, Coillte and Roadbridge, won the prestigious Green Project of the Year Award at the 2017 Irish Construction Industry Awards.
