Onshore Wind

Manx Utilities’ Board has endorsed a recommendation to progress the Earystane site to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and design stage.  Based on initial assessments undertaken by Wardell Armstrong, this site appears to offer the best value to the electricity consumers of the Isle of Man with the lowest environmental impact when compared to the other option sites.

The Earystane location is one of the best sites in the Isle of Man in terms of generating electricity from wind with anticipated wind speeds in excess of 10m/s. This would mean that four of the largest turbines, which could be accommodated at the site, could potentially deliver more than one quarter of the Island’s annual demand.

The full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has focused on 12 key impact areas.  These areas cover social (local stakeholders), noise, landscape & visual, ecology, energy & climate, airport, water & flood, transport, air quality, geotechnical, heritage & archaeology, planning and importantly, provides for consultation with the local community, which we are now undertaking.

The consultation process will give Island residents the opportunity to find out more about the project, how impacts would be managed and how to actively participate in the design. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is expected to be completed in 2025 to support our planning application.

Information on planned public engagement sessions for both the local community and Island residents will run from 19 October 2024 to 27 October 2024.

Wind speed surveys have been undertaken over the last 12 months, with average wind speeds for the site now confirmed at >10.5m/s. This is also in line with historic data from a range of sources (including a 30 year data set from the Met. Office).

An additional year of bird and bat surveys have also commenced at Earystane and the data from these surveys will help to finalise the design in 2025.