Under a new agreement between Ireland and the U.K., a group of companies will jointly develop 600 ft.-plus wind turbines across the Irish midlands. These would be some of the world’s biggest turbines and would power several million households across the U.K. beginning in 2017.
The project would create many thousands of jobs, boost the Irish economy, and end up saving consumers in the U.K. around 7 billion euros, or $9.4 billion, over 15 years.
The power generated by these proposed turbines will be delivered to the U.K. via undersea cables, which would connect to the grid at two locations in Wales. There is some growing concern, however, that the sheer scale of these turbines may have adverse effects on the local environment.
The BBC reports:
“They will be spread around 40 clusters in five counties,” said Element Power’s Peter Harte.
“We felt it was better to built slightly larger turbines but fewer of them and that’s the best way to minimise the impact on the local area.”
And it is precisely this size and the lack of outreach to local residents that has ticked off the opposition.
But of course, the wind power project is in its infancy; even after the current memorandum of understanding, a year of review will follow before a final treaty is signed. There’s a long way to go yet.
