Current Irish offshore wind developments are proposed close to shore because they are located on sites that were selected by developers many years ago. From a cost perspective, turbines which are located in shallow water are less expensive to install and run. While this may be advantageous to the developers, such near-shore, poorly sited wind developments are likely to have devastating consequences for marine biodiversity, coastal processes and inshore fishers and will result in the industrialisation of coastlines and seascapes.

Although several early wind parks in the UK and Europe, including the current Arklow Bank turbines, were situated relatively close to shore due to technological constraints, most current offshore wind developments are sited more than 25 km from the shore, with some developments located as far offshore as 135 km. Because of a lack of proper ecosystem-based Marine Spatial Planning and Strategic Environmental Assessment, Ireland is the only country in the EU aiming to facilitate the siting of such large turbines so close to shore.

Table 1. Summary of distances at which low and medium magnitude of effect occur. National Resources Wales, 2019