The Answer, My Friend…?

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he ESB will be holding a public exhibition this Thursday for their proposed wind farm off the coast of Greystones.

The Sea Stacks Offshore Wind project would be located 12km to 53km off the coast of south County Dublin and north County Wicklow.

Part of the ESB’s goal of developing over 5GW of offshore wind capacity around the coast of Ireland, the proposed 800MW fixed-bottom offshore wind farm Sea Stacks off our coast is one of the key projects.

The project would involve between 30 and 53 wind turbines covering an area of 160km2. Construction would take roughly a year and could start in mid-2028, with the power generated coming online at the end of 2029.

At a recent district meeting, local councillors expressed concern about the visual impact of such a large-scale wind farm, with Derek Mitchell pointing out that Greystones would be sandwiched between wind turbines as Sea Stacks dominated the field of vision looking out to sea. He nonetheless felt that the town could benefit, with the harbour being used during construction and the possibility of tourist boat trips to see the wind farm.

The councillors were given an ESB Offshore Wind Project presentation by director Liam Murphy, manager Brian Hegarty and liaison officer Michael McGlynn, who stressed that the wind farm would generate millions for the local economy, with support through job creation and a special benefit fund of circa €5.8m per annum.

The potential loss to the fishing industry was addressed, with the ESB having organised meetings with fishers and skippers as well as fishing representative organisations, whilst Cllr Lourda Scott questioned the impact on marine and bird life.

District Engineer Ruairi O’Hanlon countered that much of the sea bed off Greystones’ coast was already a barren desert from trawler fishing, and that the wind farm may actually bring marine life back.

You can find out more at Greystones Sailing Club on Thursday, November 10th, from 4pm to 8pm.