MU advised to look for BPA free options for wind turbines

The Environmental Impact Assessment process due to be completed in the early part of 2025. 

As Manx Utilities continues to study the ecological impact of windfarms on the Island, environmental concerns about wind turbine blades are being raised. 

The Chief Innovation Officer of ExoTechnologies, a company on the Island that works with sustainable and recyclable material, believes there are BPA-free solutions the authority can use with the introduction of the turbine blades.

Jeroen Wats told Manx Radio the ecological survey reports released by the MU are incomplete as they do not show the long-term side effects of the blade itself on the environment:

Manx Utilities has since responded to Mr Wats' concerns:

"Wardell Armstrong (who are the specialist consultants for Manx Utilities) are at the start of the Environmental Impact Assessment process and it is due to be completed in the early part of 2025. 

"To date, initial feasibility reports have been released together with baseline ecological surveys, which detail what is already known about the site. Therefore information issued to date does not include outcomes of surveys, which remain ongoing.

"The full Environmental Statement will be released alongside any future planning application and will include all possible environmental impacts as well as how these can be mitigated.

"Wardell Armstrong have also confirmed that windfarms elsewhere, in the UK and across Europe, have not caused issues of this type and research suggests that turbines typically do not account for BPAs or microplastics emissions. 

"Qualitative commentary would need to be based on information obtained by the turbine blade manufacturer, once one is selected. As such, any turbine procurement process can include this question for the blade manufacturer to address this."

With regards to Mr Wat's saying government has been approached with their services for free, Manx Utilities says:

"ExoTechnologies are welcome to bid on any future tenders alongside other manufacturers; who are able to produce a design which was compliant with the proposed site. To ensure a fair procurement process under IOM Government Financial Regulations, Manx Utilities would be unable to engage further if ExoTechnologies' intention is to engage with a tender process."