August-September 2024.

Wind turbines and the environment.  Aug 30 2024

Sir, – Sadhbh O’Neill bemoans objections to Ireland’s proposed off-shore wind farms for visual reasons (“Maybe we need to learn to see wind turbines as beautiful”, Opinion, Environment, August 27th).

Consideration of the visual impact of any building or structure on its surrounding environment is a basic principle of planning. All across Europe, countries have put in place limits which generally mean wind turbines need to be at least 12 nautical miles from shore for visual reasons. Ireland’s current proposed off-shore windfarms are far closer to shore, and with their massive size and scale, will be visually intrusive. They would contravene planning guidelines all across Europe, except Ireland, where we have not yet adopted any guidelines.

Your columnist states that “we are running out of time and choices”. We are not. All across Europe, countries increasingly look to adopt floating wind turbines as the solution, which are perfectly feasible for Ireland to consider and can be placed much further from the shore.

The Irish public has a reasonable right to expect that our energy transition will be managed to proper European standards. – Yours, et

PHILIP WHEATLEY,

Bray,

Co Wicklow.

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Sir, – While Sadhbh O’Neill acknowledges that “concerns about impacts of offshore wind turbines on marine environment are valid”, her article fudges the view of the South East Coastal Protection Alliance regarding nearshore wind farms. It is clear to readers of our website that our predominant concern is not the visual aspect of the Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 but rather the more compelling issues regarding the potential destruction of the sandbank, consequent adverse impacts of coastal erosion and the hugely increased risk of flooding for coastal communities. The sandbank is 27km long and 6km to 15km from shore and protects beaches from Wicklow Head to south of Kilmichael Point in Wexford from the worst ravages of winter storms.

We have found in our efforts to raise public awareness about the Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 project that none of those approached knew anything about the plans to place up to 57 turbines on the sandbank, each nearly 1,000ft tall. Each blade would be the same height as the Dublin Spire on O’Connell Street. For those minority of people who actually know about this project, it is next to impossible to appreciate what the development would look like, given that visualisations of the project are not readily available. While your columnist may not be the only person in Ireland who thinks wind turbines are beautiful, at the very least the public should be able to make up their own minds.

This site was chosen 25 years ago, when building in shallow water was the only viable option. It was selected based on now outdated technology, an uninformed view on the need to protect biodiversity and an inadequate awareness of the impacts that damage to the sandbank would have on the coastal environment. As a consequence, the site is too close to onshore protected nature reserves and protected seabird colonies.

The Government granted a Maritime Area Consent purely on the basis that the site had previously been earmarked for a wind farm. This was done without any environmental assessments, and it is now intent on pushing the project through without due regard to the requirements of EU legislation, including implementing an up-to-date Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The SEA Directive requires a Cumulative Environmental Impact Assessment to be undertaken on all known developments, together with the Arklow Bank Wind Park 2, and to examine the potential effects on nature reserves. This has not been done.

Fixed-bottom turbines can now be located in depths of water of up to 65/70m and suitable sites are available beyond the 12 nautical mile limit, as demonstrated by the Mac Lir Offshore Wind Farm, a 1gigawatt project planned to be entirely outside Ireland’s 12 nautical mile limit in the Irish Sea.

Proper site selection is the key to planning a wind farm correctly and we should not have to let go of unspoilt views, or accept unnecessary environmental damage, as the result of bad planning and Government inaction. – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL HIGGINS,

WILLIAM HOURIE,

OLIVER STAUNTON,

South East Coastal Protection Alliance,

Brittas Bay,

Co Wicklow.

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Wind turbines and the environment. Aug 31 2024

Sir, – It is not the case that there is a ban or standard in Europe against developing wind farms within 22km from the coast (Letters, August 22nd).

Just recently, in April 2024, Denmark – the world’s leader in wind energy – identified six new marine areas for offshore wind development which are all closer than 22 km at the nearest point to shore and most are 12km to 15 km.

As of the end of 2023, there are 12 GW of offshore wind capacity installed in Europe located within 22 km of the coastline. This accounts for 35 per cent of today’s installed European offshore wind capacity with nearly twice that capacity under construction, with permits or in the planning system.

Floating wind energy is a fantastic technology.

We know this because we represent the companies, the men and the women who will one day make Ireland a leader in floating wind energy.

It’s more than three years since we published Revolution: A vision for floating wind energy in Ireland, the first detailed policy document setting out how to accelerate the development of floating wind energy in Ireland.

But the debate about our energy transition must be an honest one. There is no way to deliver floating wind energy before the early 2030s and, if we are ever to deliver floating turbines, we need the infrastructure and the supply-chain that will be created by the first phase of projects.

People have the right to campaign against wind energy. But they have an obligation to face the facts. Blocking offshore wind farms means higher energy bills, dirtier energy, more pollution and prolongs our dependency on imported fossil fuels. – Yours, etc,

JUSTIN MORAN,

Director of External Affairs,

Wind Energy Ireland,

Naas,

Co Kildare.

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Wind turbines and the environment. 9 Sept 2024

Sir, – In response to Justin Moran of Wind Energy Ireland (Letters, August 31st), we couldn’t agree more with him that floating wind energy is a fantastic technology and, like him, we too wish that we were moving quicker to “make Ireland a leader in floating wind energy”. However, in his attempt to normalise the proposed installation of wind farms within the nearshore (ie less than 22km) by referring to other developments around Europe, he neglects to state whether they are situated on or close to sandbanks and being at the 6km distance being proposed off the Wicklow coast.

For the record, the South East Coastal Protection Alliance’s objection to plans currently before An Bord Pleanála is entirely based on concerns about the ecosystem dependent on the Arklow Bank and the five designated special areas of conservation along the Wicklow/Wexford coastline, all of which will inevitably be damaged (however unintentionally) by the proposed installation of up to 56 of the biggest turbines in the world in an area designated as an Annex 1 habitat under the European Habitats Directive. The South East Coastal Protection Alliance is not against the very necessary investment in wind energy, nor do we wish to see it occur in any place other than in our backyard. We simply wish to see this happen directly further out to sea.

While floating wind energy may be the long-term goal, everyone’s interests can be served by moving away from the Arklow Bank with the technology being promoted under the current application in front of An Bord Pleanála. The developers are well able to install fixed base turbines in the waters further out in the Irish Sea. – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL HIGGINS,

WILLIAM HOURIE,

OLIVER STAUNTON,

South East Coastal

Protection Alliance,

Brittas Bay,

Co Wicklow.

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Wind turbines and the environment. 9 September 2024

Internationally accepted environmental safeguards

Sir, – Many renowned nature conservationists are clear that offshore wind energy risks losing its undoubted positive potential unless it is subject to a range of internationally accepted environmental safeguards.

For example, the World Wildlife Fund position paper Nature Protection and Offshore Renewable Energy in the European Union (May 2021) states: “Offshore renewable infrastructure is still infrastructure. It needs to be subject to best-practice planning and design and requires rigorous evaluation using both environmental impact assessments (EIA) and strategic environmental assessments (SEA). When developing offshore renewable projects, it is therefore crucial to adopt an ecosystem-based approach”.

This is where Ireland fails miserably. We have no ecosystem-based planning for offshore renewable energy and no Strategic Environmental Assessment has been undertaken to assess the cumulative impacts of the vast array of proposed projects on the living marine environment. When applications come before An Bord Pleanála, the Environmental Impact Assessment Reports that will be presented will have been commissioned and paid for by the developer. Should we naively put aside our fears that, in the currently chosen locations, offshore wind could result in avoidable long-term biodiversity loss? For some of us, this is a risk that is not worth taking when far less biodiversity-rich sites are available. – Yours, etc

GRAINNE ELLIOTT,

ROSEMARY KEVANY,

Blue Ireland Coalition, Dublin 3.

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Wind turbines and the environment, Sept 10 2024

A chara, – An application to An Bord Pleanála for the Wicklow Codling Wind Farm was published on September 2nd. Accordingly, Saturday’s Irish Times front-page photo of the Poolbeg chimneys is very timely. These chimney stacks, at 200 metres height, help us to visualise the size of the proposed wind turbines off Wicklow. At around 300 metres height to the tip, the proposed turbines would be approximately 50 per cent higher than the Poolbeg chimneys. The application is for over 70 turbines.

Internationally, the potential visual impact of offshore wind farms is recognised and of major concern. A 2019 report on this topic was prepared for Natural Resources Wales. The researchers examined the visual impact of various turbines from different scenarios. Their principal conclusion was that wind turbines with a tip height of 300 metres or more would have a low visual impact if located at least 44km from the shore. However, at 32km the impact would be significant.

The Wicklow Codling Wind farm would be located a mere 13km to 22km off the coast, unless of course the planning application is not approved.

Our nearest neighbour, unlike us, has many years experience of off shore wind projects. The Dogger Bank wind farm currently in the process of construction, 130 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast, when fully developed, will be the largest wind farm in the world. This is the type of project suitable for enormous turbines.

Building such large turbines so close to the Wicklow coast would be environmental vandalism. – Is mise,

EUGENE HORGAN,

Dún Laoghaire,

Co Dublin.

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Wind parks and the environment. Sept 16 2024

Sir,– I agree with both contributors in their letters of September 9th when they state that the environment must be safeguarded during the planning process for the construction of wind parks. The majority of wind parks planned for the Irish Sea are to be constructed on the nearshore sandbanks of which there are 15 in total. These sandbanks are important for the protection of their parallel coastline as they contribute to longshore drift, ie the distribution of sand/silt that is carried in currents along the east coast and then deposited on the beaches. To disrupt this process will have devastating consequences for the protection of the coastline.

The Arklow Bank (which is destined to have 56 turbines built on or around it), for example, is a headland associated sandbank, and is more important because, if its elevation is interfered with, it will result in abnormal longshore drift. Increasing its height will cause onshore sands to be removed and not replenished. The Arklow Bank Phase 1 is the only Irish offshore wind park with seven turbines built in 2004 and they are scheduled to be decommissioned soon. In 2017, Arklow Energy Ltd, which operates these turbines, was granted a dumping at sea consent (S007-01) to dispose of 99,999 tons of sand that had accumulated at the base of the turbines, but this disposal has not happened, as confirmed recently by the Environmental Protection Agency. This means that the Arklow Bank has been elevated by this accumulation of sand and has been contributing to major shoreline erosion for the past 20 years, evident from the substantial coastal erosion between Brittas Bay beach south and Kilmichael point in Wexford.

This surely suggests that environmental impact assessments should be conducted independently and not just by the developers alone, and where better to begin this process than on the impact that the Arklow Bank Phase 1 has had on the immediate environment both on and off shore. – Yours, etc,

MAURICE MARTIN,

Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow.

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Houses or data centres? Sept 17 2024

A chara, – An article on east coast wind farms (News, September 16th) states that one scheme “will potentially power 500,000 Irish homes, delivering 700 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy”. Given the slow rate of housebuilding and the proportions of energy consumption in Ireland, would it not be more accurate to say it will power between three and 10 data centres? – Is mise,

BRIAN MCARDLE,

Leixlip, Co Kildare

Wind farm in Connemara. Is ‘offshore the correct term?  Sept 23 2024

Sir, – Regarding wind turbines, “offshore” is often a misnomer as many of the “offshore” wind farms under consideration can be more accurately described as “nearshore”.

Some are very nearshore, such as the proposed Sceirde Rocks offshore wind farm in Connemara. This project involves 30 turbines more than 300m tall, with the closest turbine 5km from the shore.

Visible intrusion is also a concern in this area renowned for its scenic beauty. What is not visible, however, is also concerning as it is difficult to monitor what environmental damage may be happening underwater.

Nearshore areas are often shallow waters where sunlight and nutrient mixing can support a huge level of biodiversity. These areas are a life force for the ocean where fish, seabirds and marine mammals feed, breed and forage. Nearshore areas can be irreplaceable marine habitats such as sandbanks, reefs, kelp and seagrass beds – essential for the health of marine species and carbon sequestration. Nearshore areas are also essential for the livelihoods of fishermen and women.

The proposed wind farm at Sceirde Rocks intends to use fixed gravity-based foundations up to 50m in diameter installed on a shallow area near the west Connemara shoreline. This proposed windfarm of 30 turbines is almost entirely within the Galway Bay and Islands Area of Interest for Marine Protected Area Designation identified by Fair Seas in 2022 and, in some places, is near or adjacent to protected Natura 2000 sites.

It is difficult to imagine how the levelling of seabed required to accommodate turbine and substation foundations, and the trenching required to lay cables would not risk potentially catastrophic damage to the affected seabed and any associated habitats, with potentially severe consequences to the species that rely on these.

This is a primary concern for myself, my family and many others who want Connemara’s pristine and sensitive coastal environment to be protected and preserved for generations to come. Offshore renewable energy developments must be located in truly offshore areas objectively designated by ecosystem based marine spatial planning. – Yours, etc,

HUGH RYAN,

Carna,

Co Galway.