Environmental group says Lemanaghan bog's potential "ignored" in wind farm plan

A major environmental organisation has questioned the climate change impact assessment carried out as part of the planning application for the controversial Lemanaghan Wind Farm in West Offaly.

Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) said it lodged a detailed submission with An Coimisiún Pleanála raising significant concerns about the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) accompanying the Lemanaghan Wind Farm proposal.

The proposed development, located between Ferbane and Ballycumber, would comprise 15 wind turbines, a 220kV substation, and associated infrastructure, on former industrial peatlands.

FIE stressed that it supports renewable energy development in principle and welcomes the transition away from peat extraction.

However, the organisation argues that the climate assessment underpinning the application is fundamentally flawed because it assumes the peatland will remain permanently drained and degraded if the wind farm is not built.

Critical peatland restoration benefits and the potential for solar power have not been properly considered, it said.

“The central question is not whether renewable energy should be developed,” said Tony Lowes, one of the Director of Friends of the Irish Environment. “The question is whether climate impacts are being assessed against a realistic future for these peatlands.

“Ireland’s climate and biodiversity policies point towards restoration and rewetting, not continued degradation.”

According to FIE, the EIAR only compares the proposed development against a “Do Nothing” scenario in which the peatland continues to emit greenhouse gases indefinitely.

The submission argues that this does not reflect current climate policy, peatland restoration programmes, or legal obligations arising under European environmental law.

The organisation contends that peatland rewetting should form part of the baseline environmental scenario used in assessing the projects’ climate impacts. Rewetting can significantly reduce emissions from drained peatlands while restoring biodiversity and water quality.

“The planning process should examine whether renewable energy generation and peatland restoration can be delivered together, rather than assuming one must come at the expense of the other,” Mr Lowes said.

“The assessment effectively treats continued peatland emissions as normal and unavoidable,” said Mr Lowes. “That risks overstating the climate benefits of the project while ignoring the carbon savings that restoration could achieve.”

FIE is asking An Coimisiún Pleanála to seek further information from the applicant before making a decision.

The organisation says this should include a revised baseline scenario that reflects the likely restoration and rewetting of the peatland in the absence of development; a detailed assessment of solar photovoltaic development compatible with peatland restoration as a reasonable alternative and a revised climate and carbon assessment that measures the project’s impacts against a restoration-based future scenario.

“Our position is clear,” said Mr Lowes. “Ireland needs renewable energy. Ireland also needs restored peatlands. The challenge is ensuring that planning decisions deliver both.”

Lemanaghan Wind Farm DAC odged a planning application with An Coimisiún Pleanála for the proposed 15-turbine Lemanaghan Wind Farm, which will be assessed as a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID).

The company behind the project is a 50:50 joint venture between co-development partners, BnM and SSE Renewables, who plan to construct 15 onshore wind turbines with a blade tip height of up to 220 metres,

The applicants said the infrastructural impact of the proposed development – which is being strongly opposed by the local community – is expected to cover “less than 5%” of the development site.”