Construction View Issue 39 2021 | Page 84

84 Craiggore and Evishagaran Wind Farms

CRAIGGORE AND EVISHAGARAN WIND FARMS

Two Northern Irish wind farms are set to boost the local economy by £ 38 million and will soon be up and running , with turbines arriving this spring .
Construction work at Craiggore and Evishagaran wind farms , owned by ERG , began at the start of 2020 and a host of local companies have helped construct the wind farms since . With the civil construction works now substantially complete at both sites , near Limavady , they are ready for turbines to be delivered and installed , starting in the spring .
Not only will the wind farms provide 70.3W of clean , low cost renewable energy to the grid , the projects will also continue to have a significant positive impact on the local economy and community once operational .
Fergal Duffy , Contracts Manager at RES , said : “ From the beginning , we wanted to support the Northern Irish economy as much as possible during construction . We ’ ve been really impressed with the highly skilled and experienced businesses that exist locally and their work is helping us create two infrastructure projects of the highest quality .
Credit Keith Arkins
we ’ re looking forward to seeing what good work the benefit fund will support .”
The 23.5MW Craiggore Wind Farm is expected to start exporting electricity by the end of the year with its 10 turbines providing enough electricity to power around 21,500 households . Evishagaran ’ s 13 turbines are expected to start powering homes around the same time , generating 46.8MW of clean energy for approximately 50,000 homes .
It ’ s estimated that by the end of the construction phase businesses will benefit from around £ 20 million of work , with construction managers RES committed to using local companies who benefit from local knowledge and expertise .
Omagh-based civils contractors Adman Civil Engineering Ltd and Alexander Mills Contracts Limited and Belfast-based electrical contractor Omexom have all been appointed for the projects and will continue to work with other local companies wherever practical . Local community groups will also benefit from a community fund worth more than £ 4.5million and eligible residents will benefit from the Local Electricity Discount Scheme .
“ The two wind farms will also support the local area through a Community Benefit Fund once they become operational and
During the operational life of the wind farms , as a local business they will also pay significant business