A petition opposing the offshore wind farm planned for the Sceirde rocks off Connemara has almost reached its target of 2,500 signatures. The petition was initiated last month after a photomontage of the planned project was published on the company website, and was at 2,349 signatures on May 28th. As Afloat has previously reported, the Sceirde Rocks venture, or Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta, was an Irish project which was acquired by the Green Investment Group (GIG) in September 2021.
It is now managed by Corio Generation, which was established as a specialist offshore wind business by GIG in April 2022, and is being developed as a joint venture with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with a target completion date of 2030. The €1.5 billion wind farm is one of four phase one offshore wind projects, and the only one of the four earmarked for the west coast.
The proposed wind farm involved 325-metre turbines located 5km to 11.5km off this coastline. The wind farm is “a milestone project for Ireland that will bring much-needed investment and employment opportunities to Connemara, and to the wider Galway region”, Tim Coffey, project director of Sceirde Rocks wind farm, told The Irish Times recently.
A targeted 450 megawatt capacity is expected to power 350,000 homes, and the developers are hoping to submit a planning application this year. The developers have committed €3.5 million a year to a community benefit fund totalling €70 million.
The petition on Change.org says .
