Scotland-wide survey for Scottish Government finds large majority in favour of offshore wind farm developments; Scottish Reewables 'encouraged' by findings
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A LARGE majority of Scots are in favour of offshore wind farms, a survey for the Scottish Government has revealed.
The government has today published the results of a survey of more than 1000 people, seeking their views over offshore wind development across Scotland.
Roughly nine in 10 believed the renewable energy sector to be important to Scotland both socially and economically.
A high number of respondents were also in favour of offshore wind farms – with 80 per cent across Scotland agreeing on this point, and an even higher 83 per cent of those living on the coast.
Other key findings were that four-fifths of people were unconcerned about holidaying in an area where they would be able to see an offshore wind farm, and it would have no impact on their travel plans.
Two-thirds of people living near offshore wind farms also believed they had a positive impact on their quality of life, although around a third believed the structures detracted from the "traditional image" of the coast – even if they had positive views of such wind farms overall.
The survey also found that people's views had changed relatively little over time, suggesting strong underlying overall support for the technology.
Welcoming the survey's findings, Charlotte Stamper, senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables, said: “It's encouraging to see from today's report that the vast majority of respondents recognise the social and economic importance of Scotland's offshore wind farm developments, particularly those in coastal communities who will be the very people who will benefit most tangibly from these projects.
"Offshore wind is about to transform our coastlines with 17 new projects from Islay to the Border delivering capacity of up to 25GW and bringing between £20-30 billion of investment in coming decades.
"The benefits to Scottish communities will be transformational: these projects have committed to invest in Scotland – and specifically in supply chain businesses – on a scale never seen before, in any industry. This investment will allow Scottish firms to compete in the global offshore wind market, deliver tens of thousands of skilled jobs and revitalise communities which currently rely on seasonal tourism."
The survey comes against a backdrop of increasing renewables development across Scotland, with the Scottish Government having set a target of generating 50 per cent of Scotland’s overall energy from renewable sources by 2030.
