The fire that threatened part of SSE and Coillte’s under-construction 169MW Galway wind park in Ireland has been pushed back.
SSE said fire crews and Coillte fought the blaze overnight forcing it some 300 metres away from turbines.
At one point the fire had been within 40 metres of the Siemens 3MW hardware.
The blaze is now “under control”, SSE said. “Galway Fire Service has now departed the site but remains on standby should the fire pose a further threat to the installed wind turbine infrastructure.”
Two helicopters, one operated by Coillte and the other by the Air Corps, are still supporting fire fighting efforts.
“Our priority is to deal with the incident while ensuring the safety of our employees, contractors, ground crews and support personnel remains our number one priority at all times,” SSE added.
Two-thirds of the 69 turbines are currently erected at the site.
The blaze has already destroyed 1000 hectares of around 4000 hectares of Coillte-owned forestry in the Cloosh Valley area
Image: Galway wind park (SSE)
