This study explores the feasibility of a community wind turbine in Oileán Chléire, Ireland. The project was initiated in 2022 by some members of the local community, who have already obtained a connection assessment from the local Distribution System Operator (DSO). This work goes one step further towards the implementation of the project and aims to: (i) assess the wind energy resource on the island; (ii) assess the expected yield of a wind turbine installed at the project site under different possible hub heights; (iii) describe some of the key expected social and environmental impacts, namely noise, shadow flicker and visual impacts.
The expected energy production and the associated uncertainties were calculated for six different configurations. As expected, the yield increases with increasing hub height because of the increase in wind speed with height. The profitability of higher hub heights, also leading to increased tip heights, needs to be assessed with respect to the required increase in investment costs and the considerations in terms of visual impact. The modelling of noise emission and dispersion demonstrated that results for the studied configurations align with the requirements set by Irish legislation. Also, the modelling of shadow flicker has shown that, for the specific hub heights and rotor diameters used in this report, the expected impact aligns with the requirements set by Irish legislation.