Agri-food company Country Crest has applied to Fingal County Council for planning permission to develop a 2.3MW wind turbine at its site at Rathmooney, Lusk, Co Dublin.

The turbine, which will be the second on its site, will be developed as the company plans to open a new state-of-the-art food production facility this year.

This facility will double its production capacity, but will also significantly increase its consumption of electricity. The site is home to both Country Crest Ltd and Ballymaguire Foods Ltd and employs around 500 direct staff.

The wind turbine will be located close to the existing turbine.

The company says that the turbine is necessary to maintain commercial viability and its environmental credentials, as it moves to net-zero carbon in the medium to long term.

The development will consist of a 2.3MW wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 82m and a total height of 119.33m. A service road and associated ancillary works will also be developed.

The wind speed on the site was recorded as 7.5m/s at 80m, which could generate an estimated 7,211MWh per year with this size of turbine.

Existing turbine

The site is home to an existing 1MW wind turbine. The existing turbine was installed by the company in March 2009 and was partially commissioned in October of that year.

It obtained a grid connection in April 2010 and started exporting electricity, which was surplus to requirements, to the grid in March 2011.

The proposed turbine is larger than the existing one.

The company says that at the time, the turbine was one of the first of its kind in Ireland to produce electricity that was being wholly and exclusively used by the company to displace historical on-site electricity consumption at its agri-food facilities.

To date, the turbine has saved over 9,000t CO2, according to Country Crest managing director Michael Hoey.