2. How much wind power can Ireland generate today?
- Wind power has been working in Ireland since 1992 when the first wind farm was built in Co. Mayo. Today, almost 25 years later that wind farm is still generating, and communities across Ireland today neighbour wind farms.
- Today in Ireland there are over 200 wind farms, and over almost 1500 turbines operating cleanly and safely in our communities, and we have the capacity to power over 1.6 million Irish homes with 2500MW of electricity.
Want to know more?
Ireland’s First Wind Farm, Bellacorrick Wind Farm in Co. Mayo, developed by Bord Na Móna.
Visit our Irish Wind Live page to see more of what wind energy is providing today on the island of Ireland.
The list of wind farms connected in Ireland is kept by EirGrid & ESB for Ireland, and SONI for Northern Ireland.
3. Does having Irish Wind Energy cost me more as a consumer?
- No, several independent studies done in Ireland have confirmed that wind energy is cost neutral to the Irish consumer.
- The Vayu Energy Index which reports on Irish energy trends and prices, has attributed lower electricity prices in part to increasing wind energy and stated in its Annual Report for 2015 “Wind energy is playing an ever more important role in meeting Ireland’s electricity demand, helping to drive down prices and reduce the country’s dependence on more expensive sources of energy.”
4. Does renewable energy, including wind energy get public support?
- Yes, along with peat and gas, renewables (mainly wind) is one of the sources which is promoted under the Public Service Obligation (PSO). The aim of the PSO for renewable energy is to help us develop a cleaner electricity system and reach our target of 40% of electricity generation to be derived from renewable sources by 2020, and at the same time to wean ourselves off expensive and emission heavy imported fossil fuels.
- Wind energy is cost neutral to the Irish consumer. Wind energy lowers the cost of wholesale electricity because the operating cost of wind power is close to zero. Renewable generation therefore displaces more expensive fossil fuel generation, and so for the consumer the cost of wind energy within the PSO is actually offset by having lower electricity prices than if we depended solely on other sources.
- In 2014, wind energy in Ireland saw us avoid over €200 million in fossil fuel imports, in 2014 alone Ireland was 85% dependent on foreign energy imports.
- There is a cost also associated with not developing our clean energy wind resource. Research has shown that if no new wind capacity is deployed post 2014, energy imports of coal, oil and gas will rise from €900 million in 2013 to €1100 million in 2020 and €1500 million in 2030.
5. Does wind energy help to stop climate change?
- Yes, wind power is a clean energy source which doesn’t cause harmful emissions.
- Renewable energy in Ireland over the last 5 years has displaced over €1 billion worth of dirty fossil fuel imports and has reduced CO2 emissions by 12 million tonnes.
- With the help of wind energy, Ireland in 2014 reached a new record low of 457g CO2/kWh in the carbon intensity of our electricity.
- You can see from this blog about EirGrid Emissions Data that when the wind blows in Ireland the Carbon Dioxide emissions of our electricity system fall.
6. What sound does a wind turbine make?
- Wind turbines like any piece of technology do create some noise. The continued development of wind farm technology over the past decade has rendered mechanical noise from turbines almost unnoticeable.
- The Irish Government has issued strict guidance, which all wind farms must comply with on noise. The guidance states that “In general, noise is unlikely to be a significant problem where the distance from the nearest turbine to any noise sensitive property is more than 500 metres.”
- The current Irish noise levels for wind turbines are set in line with international best practices at between 35 and 45 decibels depending on the time of day and how much background noise there is. For comparison the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia has stated that a quiet bedroom is estimated at 35 Decibels and if you were 100m away from a car which was travelling at 64km/h the noise would be 55 Decibels.
- Noise levels are monitored at Irish wind farms, and if you are concerned, visit your local wind farm, stand 500m away and listen.
7. Does living near a turbine impact on my property?
- Research from around the world has shown that wind turbines don’t impact on property prices. Here in Ireland, some house sales adverts have even highlighted the positive views over nearby wind turbines.
- Research carried out in the UK in March 2014 found that Wind farms have no negative impact on the prices of property within a 5km radius of turbines, and can even push up house prices in some areas, according to an analysis of 82,000 transactions over the past two decades
- A 2014 report by US researchers supported by the U.S. Department of Energy found no evidence that wind turbines have negative effects on nearby property values or home sales. The study, which involved assembling the largest-ever dataset for research of this type, examined more than 122,000 home sales in Massachusetts between 1998 and 2012 occurring within five miles of the current or future location of 41 turbines.
- Another study from Ontario, Canada published in the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, in 2014 analyzed more than 7,000 home and farm sales over an eight-year period – from 2002 to 2010 – to capture property values before, during and after the wind farm’s development. During that period, more than 1,000 homes and farms were resold — some multiple times, which allowed for repeat sales analysis. In every case, they found wind farms had “no statistically significant effect” on property values.
8. Is there any impact on health from wind farms?
- Irish wind farms like wind farms around the world do not negatively affect people’s health.
- As noted by Oireachtas proceedings, the Irish Deputy Chief Medical Officer advised the Irish Government in April 2014 that “there is no reliable or consistent evidence that wind farms directly cause adverse health effects in humans.’
- There has been world-wide study on wind farms and Professor Simon Chapman, Sydney University Medical School, is cataloging the increasing number of independent reviews published on the issue from 2003 to the current day, 25 individual studies from across the globe, all of which have reached the same broad conclusions, that wind energy is not harmful to human health.
- In fact a study from Harvard University and published in the Journal Nature showed that wind farms actually benefit public health through lower levels of emissions into the local environment, and are actually saving lives through ensuring the air we breathe is cleaner.
9. Is there any impact on animals from wind farms?
- Climate change is the biggest threat to wildlife here in Ireland and across the Globe from polar bears losing their habitat due to receding sea ice, to monarch butterflies who have hit their lowest population point since records began of their migration in North America, and here in Ireland changing climate patterns are climate changes are causing bees and flowers to fall out of sync with each other. According to An Taisce 18% of the native Irish butterfly fauna are now under threat of extinction.
- On birds, an interesting fact is that the UK the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have built their own wind turbine at their rural headquarters. The RSPB say “We know that with the right design and location wind turbines have little or no impact on wildlife.”
- The UK’s RSPB recently wrote “A nature-friendly carbon-free future requires a wide mix of renewable energy sources. Without sustained investment in well-located onshore wind it will become more challenging to realise the long term ambition we share with governments.”
- Wind turbines are the smallest threat to birds worthy of mention in a study carried out by the US Forestry Service. Their scientific research shows the tiny impact which wind turbines have on birds. Buildings, power lines and cats are estimated to comprise approximately 82 percent of the mortality, Vehicles 8 percent, Pesticides 7 percent, Communication towers 0.5 percent, and finally wind turbines 0.003 percent. (That’s three thousandths of a percent!)
- Other animals, such as livestock are common on Irish wind farms and farmers who have wind turbines on their land often comment that the animals love using them for shelter.
- Horse familiarisation events are becoming common with the first of its type in the UK being at Whitelee Wind Farm, (the biggest wind farm in Europe) in 2012. Footage of the visit is now used as an instructive video by the British Horse Society detailing useful hints for horse riding on wind farms, the video includes thoroughbred horses.
- Wind Farm operators are also obliged by the Irish Planning system, Irish and European law to assess and protect birds and animal habitats. Anyone planning to build a wind farm must complete detailed research known as an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and comply with planning and environmental rules to ensure that flora and fauna are protected.
10. Does wind energy require back up?
- No additional energy back-up has been put in place in Ireland today because of wind energy.
- Variations in the output from wind farms are barely noticeable over and above the normal fluctuation in supply and demand seen when the nation’s workforce goes home, or if lightning brings down a high-voltage transmission line. Our power system has always had back up (long before wind energy appeared in Ireland) and no energy source can (or should) be relied upon 100%, for example traditional coal or peat power stations can suddenly go off line due to a technical fault.
- Power systems and new conventional power plants are and will be designed to work in harmony with the growing number of turbine installations to reflect the changing fuel mix for future power generation. Wind energy is now “integrated” into the existing system to act as a fuel-saver enabling Ireland to harness a free electricity source when available and in fact renewables saved €255 million in imported fuels in 2014, and will continue to do so to 2020 and beyond all at no additional cost to the Irish Consumer
11. How much energy does building a wind turbine use and how long do they last?
- Evidence published in the Journal Renewable Energy which looked at 119 turbines across 50 sites going back 30 years, concluded that the average wind farm produces 20-25 times more energy during its operational life than was used to construct and install its turbines.
- US Researchers published an environmental life-cycle assessment of 2-megawatt wind turbines, which found in terms of cumulative energy payback, or the time to produce the amount of energy required of production and installation, a wind turbine with a working life of 20 years will offer a net benefit within five to eight months of being brought online.
- The average life span of wind turbines is between 20 and 25 years, here in Ireland the first commercial wind farm in Co. Mayo is still operating having been opened in 1992 (Over 24 years ago)
12. Does wind energy affect tourism in Ireland?
- The reality is that almost all the countries where our tourists come from also have wind turbines generating their clean energy too, so tourists are used to wind energy and tourism numbers are continuing to rise for Ireland.
- The most recent Bord Fáilte survey results reported by RTE in September 2013 showed that seven out of ten tourists (70%) holidaying in Ireland said that the presence of wind farms had either a positive effect or “no impact” at all on their likelihood to visit the country again. Of those tourists who did see a wind turbine 32% said it actually enhanced it, while 47% said it made no difference one way or the other (a total of 79%).
- Another 2016 report from Scotland, by independent economists showed no negative impacts on tourism from wind farms. In fact the report authors highlighted that, in the majority of cases the level of tourism employment increased more in the immediate area surrounding a wind farm than in the wider local authority area
13. How tall are wind turbines?
- Wind turbines vary in height depending on each individual project, and the height of a turbine must always be agreed by your local council or by An Bord Pleanala through the planning process. Better wind speeds can generally be found in higher areas.
- The current highest wind turbine in Ireland is 156m to the very tip. Wind turbines are themselves overshadowed by the chimneys at Moneypoint in Clare, at 218m, or 715ft, and by Dublin’s twin Poolbeg chimneys at 207m, or 682ft.
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