Letters / A moratorium on offshore wind?
Shetlanders opine: Offshore energy proposals advance too quickly without giving any thought to its ramifications.
The issue has been raised by Shetland’s fishing communities but now also in Seaways – The international Journal of the Nautical Institute (January 2025 edition) in its How Maritime Spatial Planning can jeopardise shipping and safety, i.e. too many offshore turbines.
It asks serious questions about the insidious creep and incursion of wind farms and associated proposals affecting the safety of shipping and seamen. By further interpretation and association that would apply to Shetland’s fishing fleets, industry and livelihoods.
Are the UK and Scottish Governments’ administrations and the SIC aware of these matters and if so, do they care?
The proliferation of wind farms offshore Holland, Belgium, Germany and Denmark not only affect those areas fishing industries/livelihoods but it pushes those fishermen affected to search further afield i.e. in Shetland’s waters.
Shetland and its fishermen could be presented with the prospect of facing several arrays of floaters – East of Bressay and North of Unst – are but some examples of the questionable licences granted by the SNP.
Furthermore, the possibility/probability of more commercial traffic passing through Shetland’s waters including the use of the Arctic route to China increases the risk of a Braer incident due to an engine malfunction when contending with the vagaries of North Atlantic storms whilst trying to dodge through the proliferation of wind turbines.
Perhaps none of the politicians or civil servants residing in comfortable Westminster, Holyrood or local sinecures and accommodation haven’t given a thought about it all. Maybe a case of it’s offshore out of sight (to their constituents) so out of mind?
Many of them of whatever colour or persuasion prefer playing to the gallery and the press, demanding stop oil gas and drilling, but their deliberations would be better employed by instituting an immediate moratorium on the installation of offshore wind farms.
Cecil Robertson
Inverness
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