Ireland’s only existing offshore wind turbines are situated on the Arklow Bank, approximately 12 km from the shore. The height from the surface of the sea to the tip of the turbine blade is 124 meters (407 feet). Turbine heights currently being proposed can extend 320 meters (1050 feet) from sea level to blade tip.

It is difficult to imagine the scale of such a turbine, but if you have ever seen the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or can picture it in the Parisian skyline, you’re there: modern wind turbines are just four meters shorter than Gustav Eiffel’s tower! Closer to home, consider that the Dublin Spire is 121 meters tall: the same height as one blade on a modern turbine. Try imagining two Dublin Spires stacked lengthways to get an idea of the rotor diameter and then imagine these hoisted another 40-50 meters in the air to allow for clearance above the sea surface—that’s how big modern wind turbines are. Turbines of this size have not yet been installed en masse anywhere in the world, so it is understandable that people find it difficult to conceptualise the size and scale.

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