OREANDA-NEWS. SSE's Athea Wind Farm in Co. Limerick has received a prestigious CEEQUAL award for the work carried out during its construction. The project has been awarded 'Excellent', CEEQUAL's highest level of achievement, scoring an impressive 92%.

CEEQUAL is an assessment and awards scheme that aims to improve sustainability in civil engineering and public realm projects. It celebrates projects that go above and beyond to achieve high social and environmental standards.

Athea Wind Farm is only the second ever project in Ireland to receive the award, after the N7 toll road and the first ever wind farm in Ireland to receive the award.

SSE Renewables has received the award alongside its main contractor for the project, Roadbridge; nominated contractors, Powerteam, Kirby Group and GE Energy; and the wind farm's designers, Malachy Walsh and Partners.

Athea Wind Farm is located roughly 6km north of Abbeyfeale in Co. Limerick. The site has a total capacity of 34.35MW and can produce enough green energy to power nearly 17,000 homes. The civil engineering phase at Athea involved the construction of 16 wind turbines and turbine bases, a substation building, access roads, and the installation of a permanent met mast. Work began on the site in September 2012 and was completed in February 2014.

SSE Renewables worked with over 50 local contractors and suppliers during the construction phase, continuing the company's commitment to the communities closest to its wind farms.

Seamus Lynch, SSE's Project Manager for Athea, said: “We're very proud of the work carried out during the construction of Athea. It was a big job when we started, so it's very rewarding to have the site up and running and producing energy. At SSE we place a huge emphasis on sustainability, so it's fantastic to have that recognised in the results of the CEEQUAL assessment.”

As well as assessing teams on their overall performance, CEEQUAL encourages best practice by setting targets in areas such as waste minimisation, resource efficiency and number of environmental incidents.

The construction team at Athea prepared and implemented a specific Waste Management Plan for the project. The plan set targets for waste stream segregation, recycling rates and landfill diversion. In order to meet their energy and resource management targets, the team car-pooled, harvested rain water for on-site toilets and used recyclable corriboard shuttering for the construction of the turbine bases.

During the project, there was particular importance placed on environmental awareness. The wind farm is located in a Special Protection Area due to the presence of a number of protected bird species, including the hen harrier, short-eared owl, merlin and red grouse. All workers were trained and instructed to look out for these species and report any sightings to the environmental manager.

Colin Nicol, Lead Director of Generation and Development at SSE, commented: “The CEEQUAL award is a great achievement for all involved in the construction of our Athea Wind Farm. CEEQUAL had a really positive impact on the project, encouraging the team to perform to the highest standards. We're delighted with the end result, and proud to be bringing positive energy to the local community.”