Four in five Irish people now support wind farms while opposition has fallen to just 5%, delegates at Wind Energy Ireland's annual conference will hear on Tuesday.
Polling carried out for Wind Energy Ireland by Interactions Research found that 58% would support the development of a wind farm in their local area, and that support for wind energy among people living in rural Ireland is at around 85%.
Both of those figures are the highest recorded since the tracking poll began in 2018.
In terms of the recognised benefits of wind power, 45% of people said the top benefit is cheaper electricity, with 22% believing its role in reducing CO2 emissions is the greatest advantage, and 18% saying the environmental benefits.
Just one in 10 said that they don't know of any benefits to wind power, and negative feedback among people living in rural areas continues to decline year-on-year, with just one in 10 people in rural Ireland opposed to wind farm in their area.
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“Wind energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, it is clean and it is increasingly popular among Irish people," said Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland.
“Irish wind farms have helped to protect consumers from the worst effects of an energy crisis driven by our dependency on imported fossil fuels while also saving twice as much in carbon emissions as every other renewable energy technology combined.
“The best way out of this energy crisis is to accelerate the development of renewable energy, to ensure more of our power is provided here, at home, creating Irish jobs, supporting local communities and helping to push down prices.”
The survey also found that 83% of respondents believe offshore wind would improve Ireland's energy security, but just 31% feel Ireland is doing enough at present to develop its offshore wind capabilities.
“We are not building new wind farms, on or offshore, at the pace we need them. The grid infrastructure and the planning system we need still are not in place. We need to build new wind farms faster than we have ever done before," Cunniffe said.
“Finding ways to do that will be the focus of our Annual Conference as we work together to drive Ireland’s energy revolution and accelerate to net-zero. The plans are in place but now we need action.”
A representative sample of 1,017 Irish adults and a supplementary booster of 201 people living in rural areas responded to the survey in November and December.
(Pic: Getty Images)
