This is a sponsored article, paid for by NOT4IOM
Major Infrastructure Projects Need Government Scrutiny
Mooir Vannin would be the largest infrastructure project in the Isle of Man’s history: 87 turbines, some just 6 nautical miles offshore and in situ for 35 years, maybe more, spanning seven Manx parliaments and multiple generations.
Mooir Vannin is not a small decision.
Yet we remain in a strange situation whereby our elected Members of the House of Keys are barred from asking questions about Mooir Vannin in Parliament. This leaves the Island’s biggest ever infrastructure project to be decided in the absence of any parliamentary scrutiny and debate.
This is the result of a Standing Order change in July 2025, which meant that live planning applications, like Mooir Vannin, became subject to the “sub judice rule” meaning they cannot be mentioned, questioned or debated in Tynwald.
Ørsted promotes Mooir Vannin while MHKs are gagged from debate
Ørsted, meanwhile, is free to make its case. It promotes its claims in advertisements at the Sea Terminal and the Airport, it sponsors content in Manx media and runs STEM projects in schools.
The only voices missing are the ones voters sent to Tynwald to hold power to account.
If Ørsted can promote its claims about Mooir Vannin, why can’t our elected officials scrutinise them?
This must change. The Standing Order gagging Tynwald – and the electorate – must be overturned.
Let Tynwald ask the tough questions.
If MHKs were free to speak, these are the questions they should be allowed to debate – and every one of them deserves a public answer before COMIN decides:
• Is the money real? Ørsted claims that Mooir Vannin will bring the Island around £2 billion in nominal-term revenue, which drops to £1.2 billion in real-term revenue once adjusted for inflation over 35 years. Yet Treasury’s modelling, which is based on Ørsted’s own revenue assumptions not independent revenue assumptions, sets a much wider range for real-term revenue of just £0.7 billion to £1.9 billion. Further, revenue to the Island is unsecured and will depend on the profitability of the project and on tax rates which are not yet agreed. There has never been an independent assessment of the revenue, and no revenue is secured. Tynwald should want to know why.
• Who pays to remove the wind farm? Based on UK Government cost ranges, decommissioning Mooir Vannin could cost up to £740 million. Yet Ørsted will only provide its own cost estimate after consent and in a “confidential annex” to the Department of Infrastructure. Tynwald should ask that independent costings, and aguaranteed commitment to secure decommissioning costs in a bond or escrow account, are in place before COMIN’s decision, not after.
• Will bills go down? Who pays for grid upgrades? Manx Utilities says lower bills are not guaranteed by Mooir Vannin and that the grid upgrade costs stemming from any potential Island Link, which would bring the power ashore, are uncosted. Tynwald should ask whether an informed decision is even possible in the absence of feasibility studies and cost estimates from the national utility provider. It should also ask whether Mooir Vannin truly serves the Island’s long-term energy needs.
• Is our lifeline ferry safe? The Steam Packet has raised concerns about a navigational “choke point” on the Douglas–Heysham route and says that search and rescue planning “has not been demonstrated” – for ferries that carry around 1,000 people as well as vital food and medical supplies. Tynwald should request solutions to the Steam Packet’s safety concerns before any decision is made.
• What are the true impacts on Manx wildlife? No independent assessment of Mooir Vannin’s impact on Manx wildlife has been carried out. The assessments that do exist were commissioned by Ørsted, and Manx Wildlife Trust has described them as“inadequate”. Tynwald should look to understand the true impact of Mooir Vannin on the Island’s marine, bird and bat wildlife before a decision is made.
• Is this the first of many? The Energy Policy Board has put marine spatial planning and seabed auctions on hold until Mooir Vannin is decided, and Government talks of up to 9 GW of technical potential in Manx waters – room for several more wind farms. Tynwald, and the public, deserve a debate on that vision before the first turbine sets the precedent.
Let Tynwald do its job
This Administration was elected on a mandate for change.
It should start by pulling away the cloak of confidentiality built up by previous administrations and the civil service: Overturn the Standing Order. Let Tynwald debate Mooir Vannin. Publish the Agreement for Lease. Demand independent economic and environmental assessments.
Otherwise, we risk another failed Department of Infrastructure project, and this one would bind us for 35 years or more.
Islanders deserve elected representatives who are free to scrutinise.
NOT4IOM is a residents’ group representing 12,000+ residents who oppose the Mooir Vannin offshore wind farm. Sign the petition and learn more at NOT4IOM.COM.