The planned 450 Megawatt wind farm in the Sceirde Rocks region of the west coast of Connemara has been shelved by its backers, the MacQuarrie Bank of Australia.
A planning application for the wind farm was submitted to an Bord Pleanála last month, but the project backers now say the seabed, the currents and the waves are too challenging to go any farther.
The sailors of old referred to the Sceirde Rocks, out in the Atlantic and west of Connemara, as the Gates of Hell.
Now, the MacQuarrie Bankers in Australia appear to be in the same boat.
They have dropped their plans for a €1b. wind farm 9 miles west of Carna.
They say the currents, the waves, the wind and the underwater terrain are too challenging…. All this a few months after their planning application went to an Bord Pleanála.
This overnight news in "The Currency"….a business publication...will elicit many reactions.
There will be many in Connemara who expected a bountiful community fund of €70m. would be a game changer in the area.
On the other hand, a protest group that feared the despoliation of the Connemara coastline will be relieved and happy.
At the national level, the shock waves will reach as far as the Government.
This was one of five offshore projects which would help to bring Ireland closer to its emission targets and avoid huge fines.
