Consultation on green energy export plan opens in ‘few weeks’
Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte used his keynote address at yesterday’s Irish Wind Energy Association annual conference in Galway to correct what he called misinformation and misrepresentation of the plan which could see hundreds of wind turbines built in the Midlands and the resulting power being exported to Britain, via cables under the Irish Sea.
Mr Rabbitte said: “It is not true that there won’t be a Strategic Environmental Assessment. It is not true that the skies over the Midlands will be blighted by wind turbines. It is not true that communities will be excluded from inputting into the process. It is not true that we will be giving away a valuable indigenous resource. It is not true that we will be exporting green energy at the expense of meeting our own mandatory domestic targets. It is not true that there are no jobs for local people in developing an export sector in green energy. Nor is it right to exaggerate the number of jobs that will be created, although none of us can forecast precisely the exciting potential.”
