FAQ’s

FAQ’s

A sandbank is a big underwater hill or sand dune in the sea. It is home to lots of sea creatures, and it helps slow down waves so beaches don’t wash away. The greatest resource of sandbanks in Ireland are found in the Irish Sea. There are 15 sandbanks along the East coast from north to south: Bennet, Burford, Kish, Frazer, Bray, Codling, India, Arklow, Seven Fathom Bank, Glassgorman, Rusk, Blackwater/Moneyweights, Lucifer, Long and Holdens Banks. These have been formed over millennia by sand being carried up the South East coast of Ireland from deeper sandbanks in the Celtic Sea.

In August 2023, SSE Renewables Sure Partners Ltd submitted a plan to An Coimisiún Pleanála to build up to 56 giant turbines on the Arklow Sandbank. On the 19th April 2026, a decision will be made whether this project will go ahead or not. We believe this project is fundamentally flawed and short-sighted and does not comply with environmental laws of conservation. The Arklow Sandbank used to be the largest biogenic oyster reef in Ireland and should be fully restored under the Nature Restoration Act as sustainable climate infrastructure and not industrialised to the point of ecological collapse for private profit.  

Not at all! Simply put, offshore wind farms should not be located in key marine habitats. Renewable energy must lower carbon emissions but it must not dismantle the natural climate solutions already in place. Returning the Arklow Sankbank to the public as a natural climate resource can be and should be a win-win situation for real climate action. Ending fossil fuel dependence cannot mean weakening the ecosystems that defend us. Industrial infrastructure quickly becomes obsolete and expensive to maintain. Restored natural systems, like a sandbank functioning as an oyster reef, can protect coasts, support biodiversity, and sequester carbon indefinitely for generations. Simply put, offshore wind farms should not be located in key marine habitats.

Unfortunately, Ireland has already missed its 2030 renewable energy targets and will face fines of between €8 billion and €26 billion to the EU according to a joint report by the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) and the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC). The national grid infrastructure has had insufficient upgrades and cannot handle the existing renewable wind capacity available with excessive curtailment of this energy. Two recent reports by the National Economic and Social Council and the Irish Academy of Engineering, warn that Ireland’s offshore renewables strategy is being advanced without the system capacity, governance, or evidence needed to ensure it delivers secure, affordable energy.

In 2004, this sandbank was earmarked by a private developer to test out a 7-turbine offshore wind farm demonstrator project called, “Arklow Bank Wind Park 1” (ABWP1). The developer was awarded a lucrative lease under the outdated Foreshore Act 1993, without a public consultation and without an independent environmental impact assessment. The Irish Government has repeatedly not prioritised the completion of a robust sensitivity mapping of the Irish sandbanks and ecosystem-based approach as set out in EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008 as the basis for marine spatial planning and consents needed to safeguard our marine environments and marine users. Instead, the Government invited specific developers who had a connection agreement, a foreshore lease, or a pending application for a foreshore, to apply for a new Marine Area of Consent, before the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) was fully established and without independently verified environmental assessment.

Offshore renewable energy projects are vast industrial developments. The construction and maintenance involved impacts marine ecosystems, so those effects must be fully understood to minimise environmental damage as much as possible.

The first proposal to develop the Arklow Sandbank was determined in the late 1990’s despite early reports that conceded the stability of the sandbank “needs to be verified” and warned of “severe repercussions” of coastal erosion in Wicklow and Wexford. These concerns remain valid as a recent independent reports determines that activities such as dredging for offshore infrastructure can negatively impact the seabed and shoreline. 

In March 2023, with overwhelming support of the Oireachtas, the policy for offshore wind development changed from a developer-led approach to a State-led spatial planning process. 

It is both feasible and future-proof to say “lets do offshore wind properly”.  SSE Renewables sees floating wind as a critical evolution of offshore wind, with active development of large projects like Ossian, strategic planning for deeper-water resources, and ongoing innovation engagement to make floating wind commercially competitive.  In Europe the average distance to shore of offshore wind farms under construction in 2020 was 44 km.