Government Study Reveals Public Back Offshore Wind
The public backs offshore wind, it is time to pick up the pace of development to address the Climate Emergency
By Alex Meredith, Berwick Bank Wind Farm Project Director
Climate change is an ever more pressing problem that requires urgent action if we are to change course and tackle the Climate Emergency. Whilst many of us are concerned about the effects of climate change the exciting findings of a recent survey show that we are increasingly ready to deploy the technologies available to us to do something about it.
A new survey exploring public perceptions to renewable technologies has revealed an overwhelming majority of people in Scotland are in favour of offshore wind farms.
The Scottish Government, with funding support from Marine Scotland and NatureScot, commissioned the study to assess public perceptions of offshore wind farm developments in Scotland.
Key findings included:
The vast majority of respondents viewed marine and coastal industries as having social and economic importance
92 percent thought the renewable energy sector was important to Scotland in terms of its social value, while 89 percent thought the sector was important in terms of its economic value
80 percent national respondents and 83 percent of coastal respondents either strongly approved or tended to approve of offshore wind farms
85 percent of coastal respondents and 80 percent of national respondents have always had the same opinion of offshore wind farms.
Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm
These findings are consistent with our experience discussing Berwick Bank (in the Outer Firth of Forth) with local communities in East Lothian. It’s completely understandable that there are reservations, primarily around the way wind farms might be seen to detract from the traditional image of the coast. However the largest projects – such as Berwick Bank – are located well away from the shore, thus having a very limited visual impact from land. Other concerns about the effect projects may have on iconic Scottish seabirds or particular groups (for example the fishing community or those working in tourism) are being considered in detail by the project team to be better understood in the context of Berwick Bank. These potential effects have been foremost in our minds as we have refined the design of the site and will be fully taken into account during the planning process.
As we prepare to enter that process it’s critical that we retain focus on the overwhelming support for addressing climate change through deployment of offshore wind at speed and scale.
Berwick Bank epitomises that ambition as one of the largest offshore renewable energy developments in the world; a project that is critical to meeting the UK and Scottish Governments’ 2030 offshore wind targets. It will also generate enough clean, renewable energy to power five million homes - enough power to supply all of Scotland’s households twice over.
Beyond the huge contribution to decarbonisation, Berwick Bank represents a huge opportunity for jobs, energy security and a multi-billion-pound investment in the Scottish supply chain.
A fast consenting process can give confidence to investors and supply chains so investments can be made in the Scottish and UK economy to create much needed high-value green jobs.
These survey results make it clear that the Scottish public are motivated to address the threat of climate change with the deployment of offshore wind. They are absolutely right. There is tremendous opportunity for growth in the sector and the economic benefits this can bring to the country are enormous, but time is of the essence.
Scotland has one of the best offshore wind resources in the world. This is the decade we can harness it and a clear majority of the population are fully behind us