Blog: Climate

A pioneering new wind farm will put South Wales at the forefront of the UK's clean energy future. Scarweather Sands off-shore wind farm will produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 80,000 homes - that's equivalent to a town the size of Swansea.

The developments at Scarweather Sands, off Rest Bay in Porthcawl provide an excellent example of the push towards renewable energy. It's an opportunity to highlight the advantages and dispel some of the myths surrounding the development of this new, clean alternative to fossil fuels.

Poll results reveal 3 times as many in favour of wind power

More than three times as many local residents support an offshore windfarm proposal in South Wales than oppose it, according to results of an independent poll carried out by ICM research.

A Greenpeace volunteer polling beachgoers at Porthcawl

wind turbines at sea

This wind farm won't harm the surf. The waves at Porthcawl are powerful - they have travelled across the Atlantic. They also have a long average wavelength which means that they are physically big. To absorb or diffract any noticeable amount of their energy would take an enormous obstruction. The wind farm is simply not big enough to have a significant effect on the power of the waves. Even with the biggest of the foundations (concrete gravity foundations which use blocks around 3m high) the waves simply won't 'notice' that there is an obstruction. The turbines are so widely spaced (each one at least a third of a mile apart) that from the waves point of view over 98 % of the wind farm is just open sea!

Porthcawl is a significant surfing location and an important part of the UK surf scene and industry. The wind farm at Scarweather Sands will in no way undermine this. In fact it is part of an important shift to clean energy in the UK that will help tackle climate change (that threatens all our beaches) and marine pollution - so it is good for water users and the environment.