A petition opposing the offshore wind farm planned for the Sceirde rocks off Connemara has almost reached its target of 2,500 signatures.
The petition was initiated last month after a photomontage of the planned project was published on the company website, and was at 2,349 signatures on May 28th.
As Afloat has previously reported, the Sceirde Rocks venture, or Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta, was an Irish project which was acquired by the Green Investment Group (GIG) in September 2021.
It is now managed by Corio Generation, which was established as a specialist offshore wind business by GIG in April 2022, and is being developed as a joint venture with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with a target completion date of 2030.
The €1.5 billion wind farm is one of four phase one offshore wind projects, and the only one of the four earmarked for the west coast.
The proposed wind farm involved 325-metre turbines located 5km to 11.5km off this coastline.
The wind farm is “a milestone project for Ireland that will bring much-needed investment and employment opportunities to Connemara, and to the wider Galway region”, Tim Coffey, project director of Sceirde Rocks wind farm, told The Irish Times recently.
A targeted 450 megawatt capacity is expected to power 350,000 homes, and the developers are hoping to submit a planning application this year.
The developers have committed €3.5 million a year to a community benefit fund totalling €70 million.
The petition on Change.org says that “as residents of Connemara, we are concerned about the impacts of the proposed Sceirde Rocks wind farm which will affect communities stretching from Clifden to Ballyconneely, Roundstone and the Gaeltacht districts from Carna to the Aran Islands”.
“Famous around the world for its natural beauty, the west coast of Ireland and Conamara in particular, is home to many of the country’s most scenic and environmentally important habitats,”it says.
“We strongly support renewable energy that achieves necessary climate goals and believe this must be done without recklessly damaging the marine environment or putting corporate profits before the needs of people and wildlife,”it says.
The authors of the petition list their concerns as:
- (1) The size and proximity of the turbines to shore and their impacts on sites of historical and scientific importance, tourism, and fishing which sustain local communities.
- (2) The impact on sensitive coastal and seabed environments which are critical for supporting the areas’ diverse wildlife, including endangered bird species.
- (3) Direct impact on rare and migratory birds which will inevitably be struck and killed by turbine blades, as well as marine species including bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises affected by the increased marine noise associated with near shore wind farms.
- (4) The likely resultant closure of the University of Galway’s globally important Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station.
- (5) The lack of alignment with existing government strategies and plans. All Irish renewable energy projects – especially those proposed within or adjacent to environmentally sensitive areas – should align with national and EU rules, guidelines and strategies.