1km setback could end Irish wind

Increasing turbine setback distances to 1km would end the onshore wind industry in Ireland, Dublin’s energy minister has warned.

In an interview with the Irish Independent, Alex White (pictured) said Dublin’s long overdue planning guidelines could not include such stringent rules.

It’s understood that environment minister Alan Kelly, who has been drawing up the guidelines, favours a minimum mandatory turbine setback of at least 1km.

“We have got to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. Onshore wind has worked really well – are we going to close that down?” he said in the interview.

“If I was to go to government, sure the minister for energy would have to be asked, ‘How would this affect the energy policy?'”

He added: “And the minister for energy, no matter who he or she was, would say, ‘This is going to have an adverse impact. It will probably mean there won’t be any more wind farms’.”

Image: Irish Labour Party