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

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.

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

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….

…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…..

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

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 no indication of the size of the turbines in your picture

wingtip on the Sceirde rocks turbines is at 310m

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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