Lenalea wind farm is positioned within the rural upland setting of central Donegal, round 8km southwest of Letterkenny. The challenge secured planning permission in January 2010 however was unable to progress as a result of lack of entry to the electrical energy grid. Development was accomplished in August 2023.
Lenalea wind farm consists of seven Vestas V117-4.3Â MW generators, every with a tip top of 136m (446ft). The blades are 57m (187ft) lengthy, and the hub top of every turbine is 76m (249ft). The turbine tower is available in three elements and are bolted collectively as they’re erected. Every wind turbine has a swept space of 10,751 sq. metres (1.08 hectares, 2.66 acres).
5 of the seven bases use gravity bases, with a diameter of 20m (66ft), have a depth of 2m (6.6ft), use 70 tonnes (170,113 kilos) of metal reinforcement, and use 450m² (538 sq. yards) of concrete.
The opposite two use piles to help the turbine foundations, consisting of 18 piles of 900mm (3ft) diameter, 9m to 18m (29.5-59ft) deep.
A part of the brand new substation
A brand new substation was constructed on web site to connect with a 110KV powerline. A brand new 6km street was constructed by way of the location to service the wind farm, utilizing stone quarried from the location. The infrastructure is constructed on the location first, earlier than erecting the generators. This contains the roads, cables and bases. As soon as the bases are full, they run all of the cabling between the bases to the substation. The generators are erected utilizing a 96m hook top crane on a purpose-built hardstand.
A nacelle, which homes the drive prepare, together with the gearbox and generator, in addition to the transformer, and to which the blade meeting is hooked up, being delivered to the location
