SOUTH EAST COASTAL PROTECTION ALLIANCE

South East Coastal Protection Alliance is a voluntary group composed of local residents and concerned individuals, who are worried about the possible devastating impact that developing a wind farm on the Arklow Bank and other sand banks along the South-East coast will have on the coastal environment. This is an environmental conservation organisation.

Our Concerns

Offshore Wind and Ireland’s Marine Future

Ireland’s offshore wind potential is vast, but rapid development risks harming fragile marine ecosystems. Without strong environmental safeguards and science-led planning, key habitats like Arklow Bank face long-term damage. A balanced approach is essential to deliver clean energy while protecting our coasts and marine biodiversity for future generations.

FAQ’s

Sandbanks in Irish waters comprises distinct banks (i.e. elongated, rounded or irregular ‘mound’ shapes similar to sand dunes) that may arise from horizontal or sloping plains of sediment that ranges from gravel to fine sand.

The greatest resource of sandbanks is found in the Irish Sea. These banks are 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, without which, we would not have the iconic beaches and sand dunes of Wicklow and Wexford.

These sandbanks qualify as Annex 1 conversation sites under the EU Habitats Directive. They should be designated as Marine Protected Areas and consequently, should not be locations for wind farms.

The Arklow Bank is a narrow headland-associated sandbank covered by seawater at all times sitting only 6km-13km from shore, stretching 27km long from Wicklow Head to Kilmicheal Point. It protects and preserves 11 iconic sandy beaches of Wicklow and Wexford from coastal erosion because it supplies sediment to the shores along the eastern seaboard of Ireland.

These include; Silver Strand, Magheramore, Magherabeg, Jacks Hole, Brittas Bay, Buckroney, Ennereilly, Clogga, Kilmichael, Kilpatrick and Kilgorman Strand.

It is an Annex I habitat under the EU Habitats Directive because it supports a fertile inshore ecosystem of protected sea birds, sea mammals, fish and shell species. It was once an impressive oyster reef. It has the potential to be restored using kelp that could capture and store carbon.

As with the other sandbanks in the area (Long Bank and Blackwater Bank) which have been designated as SACs, the Arklow Sandbank warrants designation as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) as well.

Extensive bird activity has been documented on the Arklow Bank and its surrounding waters and available data indicate that up to 23,000 birds in summer and 26,000 birds in winter regularly forage in this area. This demonstrates the significance of the site as a year-round feeding ground for a wide range of species.

An Bord Pleanála has received an application from SSE renewables (Sure Partners Ltd) for permission to construct a Wind Farm on the Arklow Sandbank. There are two proposals, Option 1 is for 56 turbines 273m high (900ft) and Option 2 is for 46 turbines 287m high (940ft). Both options require two offshore platforms (OSPs) for electricity sub-stations to be constructed.

The Developer’s Environmental Impact Assessment Report shows that 190km of cables are to be installed. These cables have a limited tolerance to bend, so an almost flat surface around the base of the sandbank will be required to be formed. To do this, 986 acres of the seabed will be levelled and over 3.3 million metrics cubed of sand excavated and dumped during
construction. (Equivalent to 200,000 truckloads) This will be done by a cut and fill operation conducted in the most part by a dredger. Up to 2.6 million tonnes of imported rock /concrete armour (equivalent to 89,000 truckloads) will be required to secure the base of turbines and provide scour protection of the turbines and cables. The foundations will be secured with 95,860m3 of concrete grouting (equivalent to 14,000 truckloads).

There are no plans to remove the scour protection to turbines and cables on decommissioning, so what is installed now, will remain forever. This will have a major impact on the sandbank given that up to 56 fixed height locations, up to an acre each, will be introduced. This will decimate the sandbank as it now stands.

We believe that this application is fundamentally flawed, because the location is not an environmentally suitable or stable site.

NATURA 2000 SITES IMPACTED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT

REF Site Name

Distance of European site from closest point of the Proposed Development (km)

NPWS, 0729

Buckroney Brittas Dunes and Fen SAC

 0.31

NPWS, 2274 

 Wicklow Reef SAC 3.61

NPWS, 1766

Magherabeg Dunes SAC 

 3.66

NPWS, 1742

Kilpatrick Sandhills pNHA

 6.8

NPWS, 4127

Wicklow Head SPA 

 9.0

NPWS, 4143

Cahor Marshes SPA 

 17.5

NPWS, 4019 

 The Raven SPA 29.0

NPWS, 4076

Wexford Harbour and Slobs SPA 

 35.0

NPWS, 4186 

 The Murrough SPA 11.0

NPWS, 4237

Seas Off Wexford SPA 

 10.0

The proposed Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 development area overlaps with essential foraging habitat for protected bird species breeding at Wicklow Head SPA, The Murrough SPA, Cahore Marshes SPA and the Raven SPA. The density and diversity of bird activity recorded on the Arklow Bank strongly support its recognition as an Important Bird Area (IBA) under
Bird Life International criteria.

Yet, despite its importance, the seas around Arklow Sandbank have no formal protection. We believe it must be safeguarded as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and recognised as anImportant Bird Area (IBA), the first step towards full Special Protection Area (SPA) status.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, “Limiting the environmental impacts of offshore renewable energy infrastructure starts with getting their location right. Sound site-selection must be facilitated through ecosystem-based maritime spatial planning.”

An Bord Pleanála should make their own complete, precise and definitive findings and conclusions and upon which to determine that all reasonable scientific doubt has been removed as to the effects of the proposed development on the integrity of the numerous Natura 2000 sites that would be put in peril if this project is allowed to proceed.

Construction disturbance and dredging will lead to sediment suspension and increased turbidity which will adversely affect marine organisms and seriously interfere with tidal processes that could lead to the decimation of protected habitats such as the honeycomb worm that lives in the nearby Wicklow Reef.

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 Irish Government has repeatedly not prioritised the completion of a successful 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. It is the criteria
used to designate Marine Protected Areas which excludes any species that is included in the EU Habitats or Birds Directives that presents enormous risk to Ireland’s biodiversity.

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, even before the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) was fully established and without independently verified environmental assessment.

Investors require regulatory certainty, and reliable planning and grid processes to de-risk investments and commit to large, long-term offshore wind projects. The national grid infrastructure has had insufficient upgrades and cannot handle increased renewable capacity with excessive curtailment of existing renewable energy.

Not at all!

Returning the Arklow Bank to the public as a conservation site, not a construction site can be and should be a win-win situation. The Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 Project presents the risk of seabed instability and accreted coastal erosion arising from extensive construction works such as dredging and excavation. It will radically industrialise the character of the Wicklow and Wexford coastline, most of which is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative acknowledged in 2021 that “as marine renewables grow in prominence, there is also a clear need for greater clarity on their impacts on society and the environment as well as how they interact with other users of the marine environment”.

The fact that in July 2025, An Bord Pleanála issued a comprehensive Request for Further Information (RFI) to Sure Partners Ltd (SSE Renewables) is a hopeful sign of scrutiny. A response from the developer is in due in January 2026.

Take part in the campaign to protect Ireland’s southeast coast, make your voice heard today!

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