The climate change crisis is driving Ireland’s need for a renewable energy transition. In 2023, the planet experienced the hottest year on record – now the UN’s weather agency has sounded a ‘red alert’ by predicting that 2024 is likely to be even hotter.  

“Earth is issuing a distress call,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. “The latest State of the Global Climate report shows a planet on the brink. Fossil fuel pollution is sending climate chaos off the charts.”  

Despite this, in May 2024, the EPA reported that Ireland is predicted to hit a mere 29% emissions reduction target by 2030 as opposed to the 51% commitment contained in the Climate Action Plan 2023.  For the third year running, the EPA states that “urgent implementation of all climate plans and policies are needed for Ireland to meet the 51% emissions reduction target and put Ireland on track for climate neutrality by 2050”. 

We must act now to stop the climate crisis or our planet will suffer irreversible damage. Wind energy is certainly not the only answer: we will need a range of renewable energy technologies working together alongside projects such as those in our portfolio. However, due to Ireland’s exceptional wind conditions, onshore wind energy is the most cost-effective way to quickly cut our carbon emissions and ensure a secure supply of energy for our homes, farms, businesses and communities.  

In response to UN accords such as the Paris Agreement, and EU targets and legislation, the Irish Government aims to generate up to 80% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and ultimately to have a carbon neutral economy by 2050. This, combined with expected increases in demand for electricity, mean that we need to build twice as much renewable energy in the next 10 years as we did in the last two decades. 

The Climate Action Plan 2023 suggests that up to 9GW of onshore wind will be required to support the electricity system emissions targets, an increase from approximately 4.3GW today. In addition, the offshore sector needs to target 7GW offshore wind and there needs to be 2GW of green hydrogen gas production and 8GW solar from renewables for Ireland to hit the critical 2030 generation requirements. It is not a question of whether Ireland needs onshore or offshore wind energy; both are required. 

For onshore wind, delivering this target will be made easier by deploying the latest turbine technology with larger rotors, each producing much more renewable energy and at lower cost to consumers. This will allow the onshore wind energy target to be reached with fewer sites / fewer turbines. 

In addition to the climate crisis, there is also a European and national energy security and cost crisis. When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in March 2022, gas prices in Europe rose at an alarming rate. Although the international energy markets have settled, prices are still well above historic normal levels due to prevailing market uncertainty. Ireland imports most of its gas requirements – fossil fuel imports cost us €1 million an hour - and is therefore extremely vulnerable to global gas price volatility. This reliance on expensive imported energy, and gas in particular, will continue to have an unprecedented inflationary effect across our economy. 

A central pillar of national and EU strategy is to ramp up our domestic renewable energy capacity, which will protect our economies and energy security within the European bloc. 

 FuturEnergy Ireland wants to support the Government and the people of Ireland by developing low-cost renewable energy projects to help reduce both our reliance on fossil fuel imports and our economy’s exposure to geopolitical events.  Accelerated deployment of renewable energy technologies will help reduce energy costs and improve energy security in Ireland. 

The precise mechanisms by which renewable energy helps reduce costs are complex, but we would be happy to organise a specific webinar on this topic if this is of interest to the local community or community groups and political representatives. 

FuturEnergy Ireland commits to a transparent dialogue process between those most involved to share all relevant information and develop wind projects that benefit local communities. This is done primarily through dedicated Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) who will routinely call door to door and deliver leaflets, newsletters and more detailed brochures with progress updates. Project websites also contain the latest news and information.

We welcome your input and feedback – project CLOs are available by phone, via email or you can arrange a meeting with them. If you choose to make contact by phone and the number is not answered, be sure to leave a voicemail with your contact details and the CLO will call you back at a time that suits you best.

FuturEnergy Ireland’s approach to community engagement typically involves informal and highly interactive Community Engagement Clinics. These are held in a local hotel or community hall. At each session, there are information stands on specific topics such as visuals, noise and recreation with relevant experts available to respond to questions. This ensures one-to-one attention and answers to individual queries.

When these sessions were unable to run due to Covid-19 restrictions, we created Virtual Exhibitions on project websites and webinars that are easy to navigate and offer all the same information and the opportunity to get any queries answered. Given the success of Virtual Exhibitions during the Covid-19 pandemic, we will continue to use them as part of our future engagement processes.

There are two planning paths depending on the size of a wind farm project. If the wind farm will generate under 50 MW of electricity, we submit a planning application to the local county council. If the project is over 50 MW (the number of turbines will depend on the technology selection) it is deemed a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID), which means we are obliged to apply directly to An Bord Pleanála. The local county council is still consulted as part of this process.

All our planning applications are open for public review and comment. A pre-planning advert is placed in the local newspaper and notifications will be uploaded on to the project website. We also place site notices around the project area and inform everyone who has been in touch with the project team during the community engagement process.

When we apply for planning, a full Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) and planning details will be published either on the dedicated project website or on a separate planning website for An Bord Pleanála applications.

If you wish to make a submission, comment or lodge an objection, you can do so on the planning authority’s website. The period in which to do this is five weeks for a county council and seven weeks for An Bord Pleanála. Each authority has a different fee for processing a submission, comment or objection.

If you would like to be notified when a planning application is submitted, please contact your local Community Liaison Officers and they will let you know.

A wind turbine generates two kinds of noise: aerodynamic noise created when the turbine blades pass through the air; and a mechanical noise caused by the generator in the turbine’s nacelle (the large box at the top of the turbine behind the rotors). Every effort is made by FuturEnergy Ireland as the developer, and by turbine manufacturers, to minimise the amount of noise a wind farm generates, and at all times to operate within noise limits prescribed by the relevant authorities. 

When planning a wind farm, extensive studies are carried out to identify the best location for each individual turbine to ensure any potential disruption for local residents is eliminated or kept to an absolute minimum. Ireland’s Wind Energy Guidelines specify noise limits at neighbouring properties that are set between 35 and 45 dB(A) depending on the time of day and the level of background noise. To put this in context, your kitchen fridge typically generates a sound level of around 40-43 decibels. 

While the existing 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines state that “in general, noise is unlikely to be a significant problem where the distance from the nearest turbine to any noise sensitive property is more than 500 metres”, FuturEnergy Ireland operates well above this benchmark. We have adopted a minimum setback standard of four times the tip height of the turbine, which will typically not be less than 750 metres from neighbouring properties to try to remove the risk of any potential noise nuisance. This is helped by the nature of the Coillte estate, which acts as an important starting point for the majority of our early-stage screening initiatives. 

In December 2019, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government published Draft Revised Wind Energy Development Guidelines that proposed much stricter limits for noise detectable at dwellings adjacent to wind energy developments. A public consultation commenced and the Government is expected to publish revised Wind Energy Development Guidelines in the coming months. This is a key target in the current Programme for Government. 

If you would like to know more about the levels of noise generated by wind turbines, we can arrange a visit to an operating wind farm and / or connect you with an acoustics specialist. 

Please cross-refer also to the question on this FAQ list relating to health matters. 

Without appropriate control systems, shadow flicker can occur at certain times of the day, typically when the sun is low in the sky. At these times, the movement of blades can periodically cast momentary shadows through the windows of a home that cause the light to appear to flicker.

Modern turbine technology allows for constant monitoring of the conditions that cause shadow flicker to occur and can therefore control the operation of the turbine to reduce or eliminate any impact. The 2019 Draft Revised Wind Energy Development Guidelines propose that future projects should be conditioned to prohibit any shadow flicker from occurring.

In practice, if the turbine blades are spinning quite rapidly, it can take one or two minutes for the wind turbine control system to safely shut the turbine down, but it is certainly possible to reduce any shadow flicker to negligible levels.

In 2018, the World Health Organisation assessed the environmental noise guidelines for a range of noise sources including traffic, aircraft, trains, leisure activities and wind turbines. This report stated that evidence of any negative health impacts due to wind turbine noise was either absent or of low / very low quality. It also noted that “effects related to attitudes towards wind turbines are hard to discern from those related to noise and may be partly responsible for the associations (Knopper & Ollson, 2011)”. 

Closer to home, the HSE published a report in 2017 entitled “Position Paper on Wind Turbines and Public Health”. This report states: “There is no direct evidence that exposure to wind farm noise affects physical or mental health.” 

Autism spectrum disorder
There is also no credible evidence from scientific research that there is any link between wind turbines and people nearby developing autism spectrum disorders or having existing symptoms made worse.  

When asked to contribute to research on this subject in 2016, the British National Autism Society stated: “There is no evidence whatsoever that visibility or noise from wind turbines causes autistic spectrum disorders in previously undiagnosed individuals, or that visibility or noise from wind turbines exacerbates the symptoms of autistic spectrum disorders in most people already diagnosed with the condition.” 

Please see below for a cross-section of further research links. 

Appendix 1: Health study references 

Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region. World Health Organisation, 2018, pages 77-78. 

Position Paper on Wind Turbines and Public Health. HSE Public Health Medicine Environment and Health Group, Feb 2017. 

Low Frequency Noise Including Infrasound from Wind Turbines and Other Sources. the State Office for the Environment, Measurement and Nature Conservation of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, Nov 2016. 

Health effects of wind turbines on humans in residential settings. Alice Freiberg, Christiane Schefter, Maria Girbg, Vanise C Murta, Andreas Seidler. Environmental Research, Vol 169, Feb 2019. 

The Potential Health Impact of Wind Turbines. Chief Medical Officer of Ontario report, May 2010. 

Evidence on Wind Farms and Human Health. National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. February 2015. 

Common Concerns About Wind Power. Centre for Sustainable Energy, June 2017. 

Infrasound does not explain symptoms related to wind turbines. Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), June 2020. 

Wind Turbines and Health. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 2014 

The Health Effects of 72 Hours of Simulated Wind Turbine Infrasound: A Double-Blind Randomized Crossover Study in Noise-Sensitive, Healthy Adults. Woolcock Institute for Medical Research and University of Sydney, Australia, 2023 

No independent national property study has been undertaken in Ireland that can answer this question definitively. The closest comparable report in Ireland is a study published by Eirgrid in 2016 during the construction of pylons (High Voltage Overhead Transmission Lines) across the country. 

The survey was carried out across a selection of estate agents in Ireland, based on a range of infrastructure projects (pylons, landfill, wind farms etc). It revealed that there is a 3% to 6% decrease in residential property prices in an area “in close proximity” to a wind farm particularly during construction. This compared with 20% “in close proximity” to a high voltage pylon or 25% close to a landfill site. Significantly, estate agents noted that this price drop tends to be temporary in nature and levels off once the infrastructure in question is operational, when prices revert back to the prevailing market conditions. 

Research carried out for a UK study by the London School of Economics published in 2015 highlights similar negative impacts of a 3%-6% decrease on property value within 2km, but specifically within visibility of a wind farm development. These findings were contradicted by a more recent, updated study carried out by The Centre for Sustainable Energy (2nd edition), stating that the aforementioned 2015 study “lacks adequate detailed analysis of pre-planning data versus post-operation phase and therefore ….introduces confounding factors”. It further states “the experience of operating wind farms is that long-term effects are generally neutral or even slightly positive”. 

It is important to point out that there are no comparable community benefit funds in place in the UK. Community benefit funds specific to renewable energy projects in the UK are not mandatory by law and it remains at the developer’s discretion as to how much is paid into them. 

By comparison, the Irish Government’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme is mandatory, requiring all participants to pay €2/MWh into a community benefit fund. To put this in context for the xxxxx project, an estimated €X million will be given to the local community. 

In relation to the specific issue of local residential property values, Government guidelines include, and indeed encourage, the roll-out of an energy efficiency scheme. Depending on the Fund Committee’s decision, this could, for example, take the form of a deep retrofit scheme for occupied residential properties within the 2-3km area of benefit over the first five years, improving the Building Energy Rating (BER) to an A or a B rating. This type of innovative use of the fund would have the direct result of increasing the value of local housing stock. 

Strategic use of funds for the greater good of the community, in conjunction with the annual Near Neighbour payments, can serve to strengthen the attractiveness of an area to live in. 

In 2022, Sustainable Energy Ireland initiated a study entitled “Evaluating the impacts of community measures in the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme”. As part of this study, a national survey was undertaken in 2023 to assess people’s attitude in Ireland to renewable projects. The surveyors conducted in-person interviews on the doorstep across all of rural Ireland. They surveyed 1,764 households. This included 1,116 households within 5km of a new commercial wind or solar project site, of which 219 live within 1km of a project site. The results show very positive support (67%) by people with experience living close to wind farms, with up to 18% neutral and 12% negative. This strongly suggests that the anticipatory anxiety before a project is constructed dissipates once it becomes operational with the vast majority of people positively disposed toward these projects. 

Based on our assessments, we have not identified any peer-reviewed evidence in Ireland that indicates wind farms lower or have a long-term impact on property prices. In other parts of the world, the majority of studies indicate that there is no evidence to support the claim that a wind farm has any long-term negative impact on local property prices. 

We have included below further information and references in relation to wind farm developments abroad and assessment of impacts on property values. 

Overview of international peer-reviewed studies assessing impacts of wind farm developments on property values 

While the majority of international studies have found no evidence that wind farms have a negative impact on property prices, there is research that contradicts this, which is discussed below. 

The most recent and relevant study on this subject, Common Concerns about Wind Power (2nd Edition), published by the Centre for Sustainable Energy in the UK in 2017,  found that despite local concerns that wind turbines will lead to a decrease in property prices nearby, an increasingly large body of evidence from several large-scale British and American studies shows that this is not the case. 

In many cases, analysis has revealed that ‘anticipation stigma’ often leads to a short-term drop in property values close to proposed wind farms, but prices quickly recover following construction and operation, and may even outperform regional averages. The researchers also note that “mistaken preconceptions by estate agents add to residents’ own worries, and it is not surprising that this can translate into a temporary dip in house prices at a time when the real impact of a such a development can only be imagined”. 

There is also some evidence that whether a wind farm has an impact on property prices depends on the specific context of the individual wind farm. The first large-scale studies on house prices were carried out in the United States by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Their first report, published in 2009, examined almost 7,500 house sales from 1996 to 2008 across nine US states. The homes were all located within 10 miles of 24 different wind farms. It found no evidence of any statistically significant effect on house prices. 

A second study, published in 2013, looked at more than 51,000 house sales within 10 miles of 67 different wind farms in nine US states. Just over 1,000 of these sales took place within one mile of a wind farm. Again, the study found no evidence that wind farms reduce property prices. In 2014 the Berkeley group, with other researchers, examined 122,198 house sales in the US state of Massachusetts between 1998 and 2012. They looked at homes sold within five miles of 41 existing or planned wind turbines and again found no evidence that the turbines affected property prices. 

In Britain, a major piece of research was published by Renewable UK and the Centre for Economics and Business Research that looked at more than a million house sales from 1995 to 2013 and compared the 82,000 sales that took place within 5km of a wind farm with the others. It found no indication that the presence of a wind farm had any affect on house prices. 

While the majority of studies indicate there is no impact on property prices from wind farms, a number of studies reached other conclusions. As mentioned previously, in April 2014, the London School of Economics (LSE) Spatial Economic Research Centre published a report based on 125,000 house sales in England and Wales between 2000 and 2012. The study found an average reduction in the value of the house of between 5% and 6% within 2km of very large wind farms. 

This study contradicts the findings from Renewable UK and the Centre for Economic and Business Research, which prompted further research that was published in Scotland in 2016. This, again, found no evidence of a negative impact from wind turbines on house prices and suggests that “generally speaking the effect is either positive…or not distinguishable from zero”. 

The authors try to explain why research carried out in Scotland found a very different result to that carried out by the LSE study in England even though the approach was very similar to that used in the LSE study. 

The authors suggest a number of possibilities including: 

• Attitudes towards wind farms may be different in Scotland than in other parts of the UK. 

• In Scotland, a much higher proportion of turbines are likely to be located on moors and mountains and in more remote areas than in England and Wales. 

• Some wind farms, especially in Scotland, enhance the local area by providing tracks for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and other members of the community, as well as substantial community benefit funds. 

Other research suggests the context in which a wind farm is developed is important. A study published in 2017 looked at the impact of a specific wind farm on Wolfe Island in Canada.  This is a unique location for a wind farm as the island is on the Canadian side of the St Lawrence River, directly across from the community of Cape Vincent in the state of New York. The research found that the wind farm had no effect on house prices on the Canadian side, including the island where the wind farm was built, but there was a substantial impact on the value of properties on the American side of the river even though these were further away from the wind farm. 

The researchers suggest several explanations for this: First, as with the Scottish model,  attitudes to wind farms might be a factor, pointing to evidence of greater support for wind energy among those living on the Canadian side of the border. 

Second, many of the properties on the American side were holiday homes, which meant that the view was possibly a larger factor in property value than it was on the Canadian side. 

Third, and possibly most important, since the wind farm was built on the Canadian side of the border the developer only engaged with people living on that side and only the township on the Canadian side received any community benefit investment. There was no effort to discuss the project or provide benefits to anyone on the American side. 

Reasonable conclusions can be drawn from this analysis of available research. 

• The bulk of international research over the past 15 to 25 years shows that there is no long-term impact on property values from the development of wind energy projects. 

• While there is some research to indicate that there have been negative effects in certain limited and specific circumstances, experts suggest that the reasons for these may be related to public attitudes to wind energy, the specific location, the quality of community engagement and whether community benefit payments are made. 

• It is also helpful if there are clear gains for local people, not just in community funding, but in developing recreational facilities as in the Scottish study and visible in Ireland at Mount Lucas and at the Galway Wind Park. 

One of the key features of the Government’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) is that all successful project applicants are required to set up a Community Benefit Fund that focuses on sharing the economic benefits of a wind farm with the local community. The scheme also puts the local community at the heart of decision-making. They will decide their own priorities and where they want to see the funding invested.

The exact fund amount differs from project to project, but it will be a significant financial package that benefits a host community for many years. The calculation of the total fund for any one project depends on the number of turbines and the total production of electricity in any given year. In essence, the Government has mandated that the developer must contribute €2/MWh per year. For example, the value of the fund for a 50 MW project is expected to be approximately €300,000 per annum and available for distribution during the first 15 years of operation.

According to the Department of Environment, Climate & Communication, the goal is to support local projects in the areas of energy efficiency, climate change initiatives, environmental stability and near-neighbour payments. There is also funding available for community and sports-themed activities in recreation, health and wellbeing, culture, heritage and tourism.

One particular focus is to support local initiatives that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Examples of these types of projects include home and community hall retrofits, pollinator farms, cycling paths, educational materials and scholarships.

In July 2021, the Department of Environment, Climate and Communication published the “Good Practice Principles Handbook for Community Benefit Funds”, which sets out how the funds should be operated and administered.

Enabling better and broader opportunities to invest in wind farm infrastructure is a focus area for the wind industry and the Department of Environment, Climate & Communication. This principle featured in the initial design of the RESS1 scheme in 2019/20 and in the initial consultation regarding RESS2, conducted in summer 2021.

A number of policy measures are required to enable such a step, including how investments could be sized and priced, correctly offered and marketed to the public, and administered during the project life cycle.

We are committed to being a leader in the onshore wind sector, and therefore we will look to assume a leadership position in facilitating investment opportunities for the public in our projects when the Government has put in place the policies and regulations that enable this to happen.

As part of all FuturEnergy Ireland wind farm developments, there is an opportunity to explore the potential for an on-site recreation amenity. 

 Sliabh Bawn Wind Farm in Co. Roscommon, which attracted 22,000 visitors in 2023, is a good example of how a rural upland location can become a popular recreational area with all the community benefits that brings. More than 28km of waymarked walking and biking trails run through the site, which lead to archaeological points of interest. There is also a children’s playground, picnic areas, a viewing point, outdoor fitness equipment and parking all on site. 

As we work through the process, we would welcome community input and encourage you to share any ideas you may have with the project team.