Survey on offshore wind farms

PEOPLE in County Wicklow are being invited to participate in research about the coastal communities’ views on community benefit funds.

Offshore renewable energy has the potential to provide financial resources to support neighbouring communities as part of initiatives to encourage community involvement in these projects. A 1GW offshore wind farm could generate up to €6 million a year for the local region.

Researcher Nuala Carr is carrying out the study and is hoping that residents in the Garden County will take part in a short survey on their responses to offshore energy and the community benefit funds associated with them.

Ms Carr is carrying out the research as part of a PhD project at the Bryden Centre which is looking at the social acceptance of marine renewable energy. The Bryden Centre is an interregional renewable energy research centre supported by the EU involving third-level institutions in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland. She told this paper that she decided to focus on Wicklow due to the planned extension of the Codling and Arklow Bank wind farms.

‘In general from the literature, people are in favour of renewable energy, but when a project becomes personal and when it’s being put up in your area, then your feelings could change because it could affect you. I decided to focus on the coast of Wicklow because these projects are going to be built in the next couple of years, then people’s feelings may change towards offshore wind if it’s not being implemented correctly.’

Those interested in taking part are asked to contact Nuala by email at ncarr04@qub.ac.uk before the end of September. The survey takes around 30 to 40 minutes to complete. All responses are confidential.