YES to offshore wind.

NO to nearshore wind.

Calling for all offshore wind projects to be placed at least 22km from the Waterford coast, following the approach taken across the EU.

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Proposal

Floating and fixed (drilled) wind farm applications on the south coast and proposed 22km turbine free zone.

Waterford and offshore wind

Some of the largest offshore wind farms in the world are being planned for the Waterford coast.

Distances from shore:

SSE, Celtic Sea – 25km
ESB Equinor, Helvick – 10km
DP Energy, Inis Ealga – 8.5km
ESB Equinor, Celtic One – 8km
Energia, Helvick Head – 5km

EU and offshore wind

Not one other EU country places large scale offshore wind farms close to shore. In 2019 the average distance to shore for EU windfarms was 59km.

Belgium: All offshore wind farms are placed outside 22km. “The approach was to site wind farms at distances considered too far for visual intrusion” (Visual Impact Study, p.49).

Netherlands: Following a petition against plans for offshore wind farms near the coast, the government placed their designated wind farm zone 22km from shore.

Germany: “Nearly all German projects are planned for areas that are much more than 30km from the coast…most planners voluntarily keep to a minimum distance of 30km from the shore, as a result, the wind farms become hardly visible from land” (Visual Impact Study, p.48).

Denmark: Denmark has small offshore wind farms closer to shore where the turbine height does not exceed 115m. Notably, all projects with turbines higher than 115m are placed at least 23km from shore. Wind turbines off Waterford will exceed 200m in height.

For all the data see our EU comparison table at the bottom of the page.

Solution

We are calling for the introduction of a 22km wind turbine free zone off the Waterford coast.

This aligns with EU best-practices, to protect biodiversity, our local fishing economy, our stunning seascapes and our tourism industry.

We are in favour of offshore wind projects that do not negatively impact our communities.

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Why?

Biodiversity

“We talk about climate change a lot, but biodiversity loss is as important an issue.” – David Attenborough

Gareth Cunningham, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Chief Marine Policy Officer

“We need environmentally sensible installations. We have a biodiversity emergency – we don’t want to make this worse while tackling the climate emergency.

We need to make sure the measures we take to address climate change aren’t the final nail in the coffin for seabirds“.

Biodiversity on Waterford Coast

The Waterford coastline has several Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas under EU law and includes the Copper Coast Unesco Geopark.

Protected areas include:

Ardmore Head SAC
Blackwater Estuary SPA
Blackwater River (Cork/Waterford) SAC
Dungarvan Harbour SPA
Helvick Head SAC
Helvick Head to Ballyquin SPA
Copper Coast Mid-Waterford Coast SPA
Tramore Back Strand SPA
Tramore Dunes and Backstrand SAC

Kittiwakes

Offshore wind farms pose a significant danger to Kittiwakes because they fly up to 40km from land to feed. They are protected by EU Birds Directive and 4 other international agreements and unfortunately, are now on a Red List of threatened bird species. There are multiple Kittiwake colonies on the Waterford coast.

Several studies indicate that seabirds are affected by the presence of offshore wind warms; through avoidance behaviours, habitat displacement, and collision mortality. —Gareth Bradbury, Furness P119, 56–66, Garthe P41, 724–734.

Under the EU’s Birds Directive and Habitats Directive the law requires “that Member States protect species of EU importance throughout their natural range within the EU, ie also outside Natura 2000 sites (article 5 of Birds Directive and Article 12 of Habitats Directive)”. — European Commission

Whales and Dolphins

“Mammals such as porpoises, bottlenose dolphins, Northern Right whale, harbour seals and baleen whales can be disturbed by specific frequencies of underwater noise.” — Offshore Wind & Conservation, European Marine Spatial Planning

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Tourism: Visual Impact

Lincs offshore

8km from shore: Lincs wind farm, UK, turbines 170m tall

Norther wind farm, Belgium

23km from shore: Norther wind farm, Belgium, turbines 180m tall

For physical height illustrative purposes only.

Note: Wind turbines placed off the Waterford coast will be 175-300m tall.

Scientific Evidence

Independent research supports the proposal that offshore wind farms should be placed at least 22km from shore.

2019 Wales Seascape and visual sensitivity study (source):

Turbine Height Low impact Medium Impact
107-145m 22.6km 14km
146-175m 24.4km 18.8km
176-225m 28.5km 22km
226-300m 41.6km 27.9km
301-350m 44km 32.8km

Offshore Wind Turbine Visibility and Visual Impact Threshold Distances - R. Sullivan (2013)

“Small offshore wind facilities of a few dozen turbines can be seen easily at distances exceeding 25 km (15 miles) and moderately sized facilities of 100 turbines are seen easily at distances of 35 km (22 miles) or even farther. At distances of 14 km (9 miles) or less, even isolated, small facilities will likely be a major focus of visual attention in seaward views.” (source)

2020 Whites & Northumbria University seascape and visual buffer study (source):

Turbine Height Low impact Medium Impact
107-145m 19.2km 14km
146-175m 21.7km 15.8km
176-225m 26.2km 20.2km
226-300m 38.6km 27.5km
301-350m 35-44km 24-35km

Peter Coyle, Chairman, Marine Renewables Industry Association

“We sense that the visual impact of today’s big turbines…much bigger than those deployed in Arklow, may become a political issue.” – Independent.ie

Giants Causeway

Northern Ireland

A UK government report states that Northern Ireland’s coast is ‘not suitable’ for offshore wind. “It said the “visual impact” to potential sites based within 13km of the shore would be a ‘significant issue’.” – BBC

Wind turbine

Cork Floating Wind Farm

“Floating wind technology can be installed in deep waters, allowing this development to be sited between 35km and 60km offshore while reducing visual impacts.” – Irish Times

Fáilte Ireland

“Irelands’ authenticity is central to our attractiveness and a key element of that is our landscape and seascape (views from the coast out to sea and from the water back to the coast). This should be recognised and be core to the formulation of future National Marine Planning Framework policies and objectives”. – Marine Spatial Planning Submission

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Fishing

Local fishing

Fishing is not permitted inside offshore wind farms. Commercial fishing, an activity central to many communities in Waterford for centuries, has been identified by many as the industry most likely to be affected by the development of Offshore Wind. – Marine Policy, P58,88–97

Displacement of species

“Construction and operation of offshore wind farms can disturb mobile and sessile species, leading to displacement of or reduction in fish and shellfish resources.” – European Marine Spatial Planning

EU experience

Dutch fishermen are finding themselves crowded out of fishing grounds due to offshore wind, they are seeing damage to marine life, little to no fish, and the catching of dead porpoises. – The Guardian, Fishing News, FiskerForum

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Who?

We are a group of community volunteers from Waterford. Our group includes architects, fishermen, environmentalists and business owners. To join us, please contact us here, we’d love to hear from you.

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EU Comparison

Offshore wind farms in the EU and those planned for Waterford

Megawatts (MW): Offshore wind farm size is calculated using Megawatts (MW), the amount of power they produce
Sort by year: All of the permanent EU wind farms inside 22km are at least 8 years old, governments now place projects far out to sea
Sort by size: All  other EU wind farms over 209MW are placed at least 23km from shore (Waterford projects are 600 to 1000 MW)
Sort by height: All projects with taller turbines are placed far from shore
Sort by distance: Three of the four projects planned for Waterford stand out as being by far the closest large scale wind farms to the shore in the EU

Date Project Company Location Status Size (MW) No. of turbines Total height (m) Distance to shore (km)
2006 Breitling Wind-Projekt GMBH Germany Active 2.5 1 135 0.3
2008 Hooksiel Hooksiel Germany Active 5 1 152 0.4
2004 Ems Emden Ems Emden Germany Active 4.5 1 152 0.6
2018 Nissum (Demo)** Nissum Denmark Active 28 4 182 1.1
2003 Samsø Private Denmark Active 23 10 102 4
1998 Bockstigen Vattenfall Sweden Active 2.75 5 100 4
2000 Middelgrunden Private Denmark Active 40 20 102 4.7
2019 Helvick* Energia Waterford Planning 1000 50-125 175-300 5
2013 Karehamn E.ON Sweden Active 48 16 80 5
1995 Tunø Knob Ørsted Denmark Active 5 10 45 6
2021 Celtic Offshore 1* ESB, Equinor Waterford Planning 600 tbc tbc 8
2020 Inis Ealga* DP Energy Waterford Planning 1000 tbc tbc 8.5
2010 Rødsand II*** E.ON Denmark Active 207 90 115 9
2021 Lillgrund Vattenfall Sweden Active 110 48 110 9
2004 Arklow Bank SSE Wicklow Active 25 7 124 10
2021 Helvick Offshore* ESB, Equinor Waterford Planning 700 tbc tbc 10
2009 Sprogø Great Belt Denmark Active 21 7 105 10
2003 Rødsand I Ørsted  Denmark Active 166 72 108 11
2007 OWEZ (Demo)** Shell Netherlands Active 108 36 128 13
2011 Baltic 1 EnBW Germany Active 48.3 21 113 16
2002 Horns Rev I Ørsted  Denmark Active 160 80 105 18
2020 Borssele 1 & 2 Ørsted Netherlands Active 752 94 200 22
2019 Norther Eneco Belgium Active 370 44 180 23
2013 Anholt Ørsted Denmark Active 400 111 142 23
2015 Luchterduinen Eneco Netherlands Active 129 43 156 24
2019 Celtic Sea* SSE Waterford Planning 800 tbc tbc 25
2008 Princess Amalia Eneco Netherlands Active 120 60 100 26
2012 Thorntonbank C-Power Belgium Active 325 54 158 30
2019 Horns Rev III Vattenfall Denmark Active 407 49 187 30
2015 EnBW Baltic 2 EnBW Germany Active 288 80 167 32
2009 Horns Rev II Ørsted Denmark Active 209 91 115 32
2018 Rentel Otary Belgium Active 309 42 183 34
2020 Emerald* Simply Blue Cork Planning 1000 tbc tbc 35
2015 Butendiek Butendiek Germany Active 288 80 178 35
2018 Arkona Wind Parkde] Credit Suisse Germany Active 385 60 179 35
2014 Northwind Northwind  Belgium Active 216 72 183 37
2015 Amrumbank West E.ON Germany Active 302 80 150 40
2017 Nordsee One Northland Power, Innogy Germany Active 332 54 166 40
2016 Gode Wind 1 & 2 Ørsted Germany Active 582 97 220 42
2015 Trianel Windpark Borkum
(phase 1)		 Trianel Germany Active 200 40 148 45
2010 Belwind Belwind Belgium Active 171 56 117 46
2017 Nobelwind Parkwind Belgium Active 165 50 135 47
2020 Northwester 2 Parkwind Belgium Active 219 23 190 51
2014 Meerwind Süd/Ost WindMW GmbH. Germany Active 288 80 149 53
2019 Borkum Riffgrund 2 Ørsted Germany Active 450 56 148 54
2015 Nordsee Ost Innogy Germany Active 295 48 155 55
2017 Gemini Northland  Netherlands Active 600 150 153 55
2015 Borkum Riffgrund I Ørsted, Kirkbi, Oticon Germany Active 312 78 148 55
2010 Alpha Ventus EWE, E.ON, VatT Germany Active 60 6 178 56
2019 Merkur TRIG /APG Germany Active 396 66 170 60
2015 DanTysk Vattenfall, Stad Germany Active 288 80 148 70
2018 Wikinger Iberdrola Germany Active 350 70 165 80
2017 Sandbank Vattenfall Stadtwerke Germany Active 288 72 155 90
2019 Hohe See EnBW, Enbridge Germany Active 497 71 180 95
2017 Veja Mate Highland Group Holdings Ltd, Siemens Financial
Services, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners		 Germany Active 402 67 180 95
2013 BARD Offshore 1 Ocean Breeze Energy Germany Active 400 80 152 100
2019 Albatros EnBW, Enbridge Germany Active 112 16 180 110
2015 Global Tech I Ørsted Germany Active 400 80 148 110
2014 Riffgat ENOVA, EWE Germany Active 113 30 150 15 – 42

*Final number of turbines and heights to be confirmed

**Demonstration project

***9km from Lolland island

Your Representatives

Click to contact:

Darragh O’Brien – Offshore planning
Eamon Ryan – Environment
Catherine Martin –  Tourism / Gaeltacht
Waterford Tds
Waterford Councillors

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