Energy

EU ends daily €15,000 fines as controversial Galway windfarm Derrybrien shuts

The wind farm is capable of powering 40,000 homes, but it failed to get retrospective planning permission

The ESB has ceased operations at Derrybrien and plans to decommission the site. Picture: Peter Barrow

The European Commission has lifted daily €15,000 fines being handed out to the state over the Derrybrien windfarm in Galway.

The Department of Housing said in a statement that the Commission considers that the state has done all it can to comply with an EU finding against the wind farm. The EU previously found a proper environmental impact assessment had not been done during the building of the development.

In March 2022, the ESB took the wind farm offline after it was denied retrospective compliance by An Bord Pleanála. The 60-megawatt wind farm is owned by Gort WindFarms, a subsidiary of the ESB, and was capable of powering 40,000 homes.