Three new research projects into the impact of offshore wind in British waters aim to provide “policy-ready” research outcomes to ensure expansion in line with biodiversity priorities.
The 8.7 million euro (£7.5 million sterling) ECOWind projects are being funded by Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and The Crown Estate, with support from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Britain has set a target of 50GW of offshore wind power by 2050, which could have an impact on the marine environment and on other stakeholders, including the fishing industry.
“The cumulative effects of building offshore wind farms at such a scale, coupled with the consequences of other human activities on marine life, are not well understood, particularly when also considering the future effects of climate change and ocean acidification on the sea,” the team involved in ECOWind says.
A third project, entitled PELAgIO, will look at the effects of offshore wind on a wide range of interacting marine factors
One of the three projects, entitled ECOWind-ACCELERATE and led by Bangor University, will investigate how offshore wind affects the seabed through altering water flow conditions, and what this means for the wider marine ecosystem.
“ When a wind turbine is installed, it changes the way ocean currents flow, which also changes the seabed, resulting in knock-on impacts up the food chain,” the project team says.
“ Using the Eastern Irish Sea as a case study, and in the context of accelerating climate change, the project will help build more accurate environmental prediction systems, including anticipated behaviour changes in animals such as seabirds resulting from impacts to the seabed,”it says.
“ It will also build a public-facing tool to help people understand if their data is fit for purpose when assessing risks and opportunities arising from changes to the seabed after windfarm expansion,” it says.
A second project, known as ECOWINGS and led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, will focus on the cumulative impacts of offshore wind on key seabird species in the North Sea, such as kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, and puffins.
“It will investigate exactly what causes seabirds to change their behaviour when offshore windfarms are built - for instance, if they avoid windfarms due to aversion of the turbines themselves, because their prey species have moved elsewhere, or both,” the team says.
“The project will use these findings to build a set of tools to inform strategic compensation, a type of policy measure that aims to offset any negative impacts on wildlife through supporting their populations via other means, such as habitat protection or creation,” it says.
A third project, entitled PELAgIO, will look at the effects of offshore wind on a wide range of interacting marine factors.
“Everything that happens in the ocean is interlinked, but these connections are not always immediately obvious. The project will begin by examining effects on ocean currents, seeing how they affect nutrients and plankton populations, before scaling up to investigate effects on plankton-eating fish such as sand eels and herring, followed by the animals that eat these fish, such as seabirds and seals,” the project team says.
“Its findings will help build tools to assess policy trade-offs at the ecosystem level and create a better understanding of the many interactions taking place in the ocean, and how they change when offshore wind and climate change are introduced,” it says.
The three projects will begin with meetings with relevant stakeholders, “forming partnerships with the offshore wind industry to aid their research efforts, and producing policy-conscious research plans for the next four years”, the team says.
“They will work closely together to share research techniques and equipment, and ultimately their outputs will be brought together to produce a suite of resources for decision-makers,” it says.
More details on ecowind.uk
