nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Tonn Nua wind farm ("the Waterford Coast one")

Dum_Dum_2

I'm trying to like it, but:

Too close to the coast - only 12.5km. That would make it ugly. The other 3 sites look better - much further from the shore.
No local jobs. Cork Port gets investment instead. Something wrong with our Port I'm not aware of?

More info on announcement here:

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/05/03/new-south-coast-wind-farms-to-be-concentrated-initially-off-waterford-and-wexford/

Pressure group here contending the importance of having these things further out to sea:
https://www.bluehorizon.ie/

Government looking to rubber stamp this pronto - consultation just 6 weeks.

Anything to like or not?

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Wanderer78

plough on, we have to safe guard our energy needs and clearly get the hell away from fossil fuels asap, not just for the obvious reasons but in order to protect our economy, its clearly obvious that gaining access to fossil fuels is going to become increasingly difficult and more expensive, being as energy independent as possible safe guards us from such, noting, one of the main causes of our recent inflationary issues was in fact our exposure to global energy markets, producing most of our own energy might just prevent such situations in the future, maybe…..

Deiseen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122102841#Comment_122102841

Over exposure to wind and solar in Ireland, without a proper sustainable backup (Nuclear) would prove disastrous to Ireland in long periods of low sun / wind. Fossil fuels have a long way to go before the cost / benefit drops below that of wind and solar. There's a reason why developing countries (and China) choose fossil fuels over wind and solar.

Deiseen

I'm not entirely against it but they should not be visible from the coastline. Once they are built, then we are stuck with them for decades at the very least. They are not to many people's tastes and these concerns should be factored in over the developers.

I'd also have concerns about their affect on whales in our seas. There's a lot of noise about how they are impacting their health but hard to get the truth as wind turbines (like everything now) have become a bit of a polarised issue. You have one side who wouldn't say a bad word about them if one fell over on their house, killing their entire family and another side that cannot see a single benefit to them at all.

There are a hell of a lot of downsides to them. For instance, people downplay the intermittent nature of their power generation when availability is the single most important factor of power generation that there is. Nothings black and white though and there are some benefits. It should all come from Port of Waterford though and I think this was even flagged in a government report a while back.

Wanderer78

yup, green tech isnt exactly green, but its generally greener than fossil fuels, its a necessary evil, shur ev's aint exactly 100% green either, when you factor in the mining thats required for them, amongst other environmental damage done during their production and maintenance, theres also clearly a problem with our lack of abilities in recycling turbine blades after use….

yup, id have to agree in regards nuclear, its a great shame we re a very strong anti-nuclear country, its an understandable concern, but being exposed to international fossil fuel markets has already shown to be a major problem for us, and this will likely be more so for the future. its great to see groups such as 18 for 0 trying to change this thinking here, unfortunately this stance means fossil fuels are here to stay, for the reasons you rightfully pointed out

Deiseen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122106606#Comment_122106606

If you think exposure to the fossil fuel market is bad wait until you see an energy crisis when the wind doesn't blow for a week in the middle of winter. The country will be brought to a standstill.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122106751#Comment_122106751

clearly both have issues, wind for technical reasons, but fossil fuels for our pure exposure to markets, as we have just experienced via inflation, its very likely international fossil fuels markets are now gonna be more volatile going forward, therefore possible causing more inflation issues into the future. obviously our recent rapid rise in inflation is actually still hurting many businesses and households, therefore it makes sense to be as energy independent as possible moving into the future, and clearly renewables are really the only game in town, due to our lack of willingness with nuclear

obviously the way to deal with wind supply issues is simply storage, so get busy building storage capacity….

im also hoping hydrogen can play a part in all of this in the future, sounds like its got some way to go yet though….

Deiseen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122106800#Comment_122106800

How is it energy independence if we have a week long black out due to low winds in January? Any kind of shock that we got from inflationary energy prices over the last few years would pale in comparison to that kind of event. People would die and the economy would crash and I am not being hyperbolic in saying that.

Also the whole storage thing is simply ridiculous and it should stop being brought up as a credible solution. The costs involved to create enough storage that would last the whole country even a couple of days would be beyond your wildest expectations.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122108683#Comment_122108683

…and once again, 100% energy independence is probably not possible, and probably not a good idea, hence why having external energy supplies need to be included in our future plans, as they currently are, hence why major projects such as interconnects are critically need…..

…yes you are correct, not maintaining our energy supplies would very likely lead to catastrophic outcomes, as explained, hence the critical element of this issue….

…we can now clearly see the dangers of prolonged inflationary problems, such situations would more than likely lead to catastrophic social of economic outcomes, i.e. its best we try prevent such outcomes….

…we re already starting to build storage capacity in the country, with interests growing in approaches including hydrogen, this includes national and international investment and interest groups, so its probably not as dump an idea as suggested….

…oh and other countries are already ploughing on with their own storage capacities, as could be seen during the recent energy crisis, lpg storage etc, i.e. storage is kinna a good idea, as a protection against volatility…..

JPA

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122108683#Comment_122108683

What are you talking about? Ireland and all of Europe will be inter connected, there will be no reliance on full renewable energy EVER.

Dum_Dum_2

I would be nice to limit this discourse to the local context.

Only the simplest omadhaun would reject the idea of utilising ample wind resources just off our coast. This would be in the context of a wider diverse (redundant) energy policy.

The points I was trying to bring attention to are these:

Why is the Tonn Nua project so much closer to the coast than the other three? Is there a significant advantage to this particular location or are the benefits in terms of power generation and cost just marginal? For example, if the proposed location would only generate 10% more energy than 22km+ further out; well then push it out to the horizon. If the difference is 50%+ then we might have to suffer it.

I can't see how this would benefit the local economy. Big noises being made about investments and jobs elsewhere. So back to the point above - if we have to suffer it, then why can't they throw the dog a bone?

Gardner

12km out ffs. Get the binoculars out lads.

The human eye can get about 5km so what you will see will be limited enough due to the elevation height of the structure. it wont affect your daily lives, wont affect your walk on the beach. zero impact. it actually should be double the size.

Download marine tracker app, look for a large container/oil ship 12km out off the coast and that will be your guide of what you will see. big **** drama about nothing.

Bards

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122114706#Comment_122114706

Have a read of this article and come back to us

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259431883_RESEARCH_ARTICLE_Offshore_Wind_Turbine_Visibility_and_Visual_Impact_Threshold_Distances

tphase

The human eye can see a lot further than 5km . Have a look at the photomontages of what the Sceirde rocks wind farm willl look like ... those turbines will be 5 to 10km offshore https://tours.innovision.ie/v/531BlYOrjBL

Deiseen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122114706#Comment_122114706

The wind farm in Brighton is 13.2 km from the coast and they are very visible. The ones going off the coast of Waterford will also almost certainly be higher than those turbines.

So closer + bigger = very visible.

Gardner

Get a grip lads ffs.

tphase

Screenshot from 2024-05-09 11-15-27.png

@Gardner no indication of the size of the turbines in your picture

wingtip on the Sceirde rocks turbines is at 310m

Gardner

Croaghnakeela Island, St. Macdara’s Island, Mason Island is inhabitable, and there's a few auld B&B's on Mweenish Island. tis nearly 10/12km to the mainland from wind farm. doesn't put in or out on anyone. The bigger the better and hopefully they build hundreds more around the coast of Ireland. hopefully lower the price of electricity in the medium/long term.

corollake35

Or, make a select few very rich.

Very seldom does something like this benefit our pockets.

Not against it at all in principal, but everyone should have the right to query this in whatever way they want.

Trust among the Irish population is non existent, and rightly so. Just because someone says hit the green button for go doesn't mean you blindly have to do it.

Before reading this thread, this wasn't even really on my radar, so all comments should be welcome, and not attempted to be shut down.

Daniel son

I think they look good. Should be all around the coast

tphase

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122115413#Comment_122115413

more like 5km to the mainland from the nearest turbine, 10km from the furthest

Deiseen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122115413#Comment_122115413

How has no one woken up to this total myth yet? The data is in and so far shows that they make electricity more expensive not cheaper.

They have benefits but if you are hoping they will lower your electricity bill, then you are mistaken.

Deiseen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122115503#Comment_122115503

Put them far enough so they are out of site and everyone is happy. It might hurt the economics a bit but they can't have it all their way.

JimWinters

It’s interesting to see the ESB’s visualisations vs reality on this one. I’m not against the wind farm, I am against companies maximising profits to the detriment of the entire stretch of coastline.
The water is only 5-10 meters deeper at 20kms out, not a whole lot of extra cost/effort but they’ll put them as close to shore as possible to save money.

For reference, Hook lighthouse is about 5k from Dunmore and is 35 meters high, it can definitely be seen from Dunmore. These turbines will be nine times the height. Now picture rows and rows of them all along the coast between 5 and 10km from shore. They will be very visible…

Cabaal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122105783#Comment_122105783

Maybe if we subsidised sun/wind as much as we do fossil fuels then we'd level the playing field.

Fossil fuels being subsidised at rate of $13m a minute after all - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/24/fossil-fuel-subsidies-imf-report-climate-crisis-oil-gas-coal

Cabaal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122117088#Comment_122117088

Are you talking about nuclear or renewable, because nuclear has proven it doesn't make cheap electric and it has many other issues.

You've mentioned it a few times but realistically even if we started to scope nuclear tomorrow it would be 20 years before you'd see an operational plant if you are lucky. Why? It takes 6-8 years to actually build a plant, but add to that the massive consultation, the court cases, the appeals, the massive protests, nobody wanting it next to them, the huge costs over runs etc. It would be politically toxic for any party to touch.

Your whole argument about wind now blowing is nonsense, while we are an island geograpghically we are not an island when it comes to interconnectivity of our energy network. Wind turbines are certainly part of the overall solution for Ireland but so is massive solar rollout to homes across the entire country.

Every roof in Ireland that can have solar should have solar, you add battery's into the mix and a large amount of premises throughout Ireland would actually be totally self sfficent and would actually make money selling to the grid.

Deiseen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122119914#Comment_122119914

Nuclear is by far the best option and isn't it fantastic that we are on the cusp of Small Modular Reactors. These will be revolutionary until we crack fusion. In my opinion these will mean the end of wind power generation (for any country with the sense to install them).

As for Nuclear being more expensive, can you point me to where you are getting your data showing that European countries with installed nuclear capacity pay more per kwh. Of the 13 countries in Europe with Nuclear plants, 10 of those have relatively cheap electricity prices.

In fact Germany is a perfect modern european example of disastrous anti nuclear/fossil fuel ideology in favour of intermittent renewable sources.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122121099#Comment_122121099

unfortunately i just cant ever see nuclear here in ireland in my lifetime, possibly in 50 -100 years, but not anytime soon….

…so we ll just have to accept renewables along side fossil fuels….

Deiseen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122121436#Comment_122121436

All because we let the loud minority of anti-nuclear idiots dictate the energy policy of the country. They have kept us away from the best all round energy source currently available.

Yes its not perfect (there is no perfect source of energy) but on balance it is head and shoulders above the other options that we currently have at our disposal.

I just hope that the Irish public might be more accepting of the Small Modular Reactors, otherwise Ireland is in big trouble energy wise.

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122121803#Comment_122121803

Do these new ‘modular nuclear reactors’ have a new way of dealing with the ‘spent nuclear fuel ’ which has ‘half lifes’ of 1000’s of years….other than the deep burying of it as with the current plants?

Also describing people opposed to nuclear power generation as ‘anti nuclear idiots’ is both arrogant and offensive…what are the advantages of SMR’s over the larger ones, very little if any based on a quick google of them but maybe you can enlighten us all

Dunmoreroader

Why is Cork port getting all the business associated with these wind farms off Waterford & Wexford? Are Port of Waterford and Rosslare not suitable?