This article is from page 17 of the 2008-04-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
A CLARE construction firm has tak- en the first step to power a new €20 million commercial development on the outskirts of Ennis through wind- NEAT
Earlier this year, one of the largest construction firms in Clare, Keco Construction Ltd secured planning permission for a commercial devel- opment at Ballymaley, Ennis oppo- site the existing Ballymaley Business Park.
Now, the company has lodged plans with Clare County Council for a test wind-turbine at Ballymaley to test the viability of powering the new com- mercial development, which includes car showrooms, through wind.
The company, employing between 75 and 100 people and with a turno- ver of €30 million, is headed up by local builders, Eugene Keane and Michael Cotter.
A spokesman for the company stat- ed that data collected from the test mast would establish “what size and number of turbines will be required in order to produce enough electric- ity to service the development”.
A company spokesman said: “The wind mast will stay in place for one year and the average wind speed can be established from a data logger connected to the mast.”
He added: “The turbines will not be multi-megawatt machines like those located on large scale wind farms. They will be micro type, mounted on the larger building and will be FWegexol AYA) UL MO) ana (oAy’2
“The turbines will likely be ‘verti- cal shaft’. Most turbines we are fa- miliar with are horizontal shaft and look like a propeller.
“The vertical shaft turbines are quiet and will feed power into a number of battery banks in order to store the electricity for when its actu- ally required.”
Along with the proposed wind-tur- bines, Keco state that the Ballymaley development will also include use of solar power for all water heating, use of treated rainwater for all purposes other than human intake and use of energy efficient heating and air-con- ditioning systems.
KECO has been operating since 1998 and some of its recent Ennis commercial projects include Carraig Donn, Hughes & Hughes Bookstore and Westpoint Retail Park while its housing developments include Cluain Ros Leamhain (Roslevan) and Gar- ran na Coille in Shanaway Road.
It employs 75-100 people and has a turnover of over €30 million. It is currently working on commercial projects in Galway City, Oranmore, Loughrea and Carlow.