FAQs
(Courtesy of Wind Energy Ireland)
Wind Energy Explained
Irish people support wind energy
The 2021 Interactions opinion poll found that 79 per cent of Irish people back wind energy. Confirming the popularity of Ireland’s main source of renewable energy, the poll found similar levels of support for wind energy from the national sample, and one composed entirely of people living in rural Ireland. Opposition to wind energy remains extremely low at only 6 per cent.
How do wind turbines work?
The blades of the turbine are connected to a generator housed in a box right behind the blades. The wind moves the blades and the generator turns it into electricity. The turbine is the device that converts energy from kinetic energy (energy produced by the wind moving the blades straight from the wind) into electricity.
How much electricity does a wind turbine generate?
The amount of electricity a turbine can generate depends on the type of turbine and the wind conditions at any time. Ireland’s largest wind farm is the Galway Wind Park in Connemara. The turbines there are 3 MW turbines. To use them as an example, when the wind is blowing steadily they can each generate 3 MW of electricity.
What are the main advantages of wind energy?
It is clean. The electricity produced by a wind turbine creates none of the carbon emissions that drive the climate emergency. While carbon is created through building, transporting and installing turbines, typically after 6-18 months the turbine has already saved more than was created from its production.
It is efficient. When you burn coal, oil or gas to create electricity a huge amount of energy is lost in the process. Wind energy, on the other hand, is 100 per cent efficient at turning wind into electricity.
Wind energy is cheaper than fossil fuels. Wind drives down the price of power by pushing expensive fossil fuel generators off the system.
Wind energy is renewable. It is a resource that we have plenty of here in Ireland. Right now, so much of the oil and gas that we burn to produce electricity is imported from other countries. The more we use wind to power our homes and businesses, the less we are reliant on importing expensive fossil fuels, and the closer we are to being 100% energy independent.
What are the main disadvantages of wind energy?
Wind does have a key disadvantage compared to fossil fuels. A gas, coal or oil generator can, assuming they have the fuel, be switched on at any time but a wind turbine only works if there is wind to turn the blades of the turbine. This means it is an ‘intermittent’ source of electricity.
This is why onshore wind energy, by itself, cannot replace fossil fuels. It needs to be part of a suite of renewable technologies like offshore wind, solar, hydropower, energy storage and green hydrogen. Used together, we can develop a 100 per cent renewable electricity system.
Can land beneath a turbine still be used for farming activity?
Yes, very little land is taken up by wind turbines. Farmers across Ireland continue to rear livestock and grow crops on the land where the wind turbine is located. There would be some disruption to farming activity during the construction of the wind farm but once it is operational then farming can continue as normal.
Health
In 2018 the World Health Organisation said it found no evidence or ‘low quality’ evidence of any negative health impact from wind turbine noise. The Irish Department of Health says, “There is no reliable or consistent evidence that wind farms directly cause adverse health effects in humans”. These findings are confirmed by decades of peer-reviewed, independent, research.
Sound
The blades of wind turbines make a sound as they pass through the air. Every effort is made to reduce this as much as possible. When planning a wind farm extensive studies are carried out by developers to identify how best to locate turbines to eliminate or minimise any sounds.
Currently, the guidelines for wind turbine sound levels in Ireland are set between 35 and 45 decibels depending on the time of day and the level of background noise. These are among the strictest limits in Europe today and turbines must also be located at least 500 metres from the nearest home.
To put this in context the fridge in your kitchen would typically generate a sound level of around 50 decibels while 40 decibels would be the noise in a quiet office.
Property
There is absolutely no research that we have seen which shows that wind farms affect property prices in Ireland. A major recent study in Scotland, a country of a similar size and a similar scale wind industry to Ireland, found no evidence of a negative impact on property prices.
Tourism
There is no evidence that the development of wind energy has had a negative impact on tourism in Ireland. Between 2008 and 2017, a period when the majority of the country’s wind farms were constructed, the number of overseas visitors to Ireland rose by 21.6 per cent.
In Kerry, the county with the most wind energy in Ireland, there was a 62 per cent increase in overseas visitors between 2009 and 2017.
Reports carried out for the Scottish government in 20087 and 20128 both found that wind farms have little or no negative impact on tourism in Scotland. In fact, wind farms are increasingly destinations with more than 45,000 visitors to Mountlucas wind farm in Offaly last year.
Environment
Electricity generated by a wind turbine does not produce any CO2 emissions.
Over the lifetime of the turbine, emissions are caused by its construction, transport, installation and decommissioning. The amount of CO2 a turbine generates over its lifetime must be less than the CO2 emissions it displaces from the electricity system. The length of time for it to achieve this is known as the ‘carbon payback period’.
A detailed 2015 study found that the ‘carbon payback’ for an onshore wind farm ranges from six months to two years and for an offshore wind farm – which are more efficient at generating electricity – from 5 months to one year.9
Before getting planning permission for a wind farm a developer must prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment Report.
This explains what impact the project, if it went ahead, would have on the environment. If any negative impacts are identified the developer must explain how they are going to avoid or protect against these. Only if the planning authority is satisfied can permission be given for the project.
Pages 77-78. WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region. 2018.
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2015-03-25/section/213/
http://chchearing.org/noise/common-environmental-noise-levels
https://www.gov.scot/resource/doc/214910/0057316.pdf
https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/media/1686/the_impact_of_windfsarms_on_scottish_tourism.pdf