Are people in Orkney for or against wind turbines?

Wind turbines are a familiar sight now in Orkney, whether that be small domestic turbines in the countryside or larger turbines, such as the turbine at Hatson or the group on Burgar Hill.

But what is the general consensus on wind turbines – what do local folk see as the positives and negatives – and are more folk for them, or against them?

On one side of the fence, those who are ‘pro-wind’ cite the positive effect that the growth in turbines has had in Orkney; the cementing of Orkney’s reputation as a center for innovation and self-reliance, the creation of employment opportunities and the provision of much needed funding to local groups through associated community benefit schemes. Not to mention the effect on meeting local and national carbon reduction targets.

On the other side of the argument, not everyone is in agreement with that, with the most common concern being that the visual impact of the larger turbines in particular is just too great and outweighs any positive aspects.

How do the numbers stack up though?

In 2017, the Orkney Renewable Energy Forum commissioned independent market research company ComRes to carry out telephone interviews of 500 Orkney residents to determine local opinion on renewable energy technologies.

The survey began by establishing the demographics of those surveyed – 51% were female, 62% were over 45 and 92% had lived in Orkney for more than ten years.

Asked their opinions on renewables and wind farm developments in particular, a startling 89% of people said they supported the development of renewable energy in Orkney. Folk were then asked whether they would support or oppose future wind farm development – 70% said they strongly supported or tended to support it.

Interestingly, that 70% figure is consistently replicated in other surveys.

The most recent stats from the UK Government Public Attitudes Tracker shows that 78% of people support onshore wind (up from 64% support in 2012), with only 6% opposed (down from 13% in 2012). Asked whether they would be happy to have a large-scale renewable development in their area, 61% agreed and 14% disagreed. Around 80% of people also agreed that renewable energy developments should provide direct benefit to the communities in which they are located.

A separate 2018 poll in Scotland by Survation on behalf of Scottish Renewables showed that 66% support onshore wind with 9% opposed.

When Orkney’s Community Wind Farm Project was launched in April 2019 – 73% of those who attended the consultation events said they supported the project proposals in Hoy and Faray and 65% supported the proposals at Quanterness (with 13% against and 22% undecided yet).

A further survey, carried out as part of the pre-application consultation process for Quanterness, found that the majority continued to support the development with 49% in favour, 29% against and 21% undecided.

The most recent Orkney wide survey on perceptions of energy projects was as part of the ‘Orkney Household Energy Survey'. Amongst questions about their own home energy use, householders were asked about ten types of renewable heat and energy projects and their support for them. Again, on-shore wind (i.e. wind turbines) has a support rating of 68%.

It does seem from the survey work done that support for wind farm developments is high – but where do you sit in the 70/30 divide?