Why WOZEP?
Offshore wind energy helps towards the transition to renewable energy supplies. At the same time however, offshore wind farms are having an impact on the natural environment. For example, on the animal species which inhabit the North Sea and its coastlines, such as marine mammals, fish, birds and bats, as well as their habitats. The effects should not transgress the legal limits which have been set for this purpose. This means that the development of offshore wind energy must take place within the ecological confines of the Dutch Environment and Planning Act and comply with the requirements of the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive. In order to evaluate the (potential) impacts, a body of knowledge is required. Wozep aims to contribute to the development of this know-how.
The large-scale development of offshore wind energy is a relatively new phenomenon. It comes with a great deal of uncertainty about potential effects. Questions that arise, for example, are: will some seabirds lose their habitat and what will the consequences of this be? How long will marine mammals shun those areas where the foundations of wind turbines are being sunk? In so doing, what will the consequences for the populations of these marine mammals be? To what extent will migrating birds and bats suffer any hindrance from the rotating blades of wind turbines in their passage across the North Sea?
Filling gaps in the know-how
To fill in the gaps in know-how regarding the effects of offshore wind farms on the North Sea’s ecosystem, an integrated research programme is indispensable. To address the requirements of such a programme, Wozep - a governmental ecological strategy for offshore wind energy - was established in 2016. This programme, managed by Rijkswaterstaat, was commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. This approach helps lessen the time-lag between the development of know-how and its implementation, for example, in spatial planning, the allocation of sites, in environmental impact assessment reports and statutory regulations, such as mitigating measures.
Energy transition: 1 of the 3 transitions in the North Sea
Since 2024, Wozep has been operating as a stand-alone sub-programme alongside MONS, a monitoring and research programme with a focus on nature restoration and species protection. Whereas Wozep specifically targets the effects of the energy transition in the North Sea and the direct application of knowledge in policy and implementation, MONS zooms in on the effects of and the balance between the three transitions in the North Sea: the energy transition, the food transition and the nature transition. Wozep and MONS enjoy a close collaboration and seek the integration of research and monitoring based on ‘knowledge questions’ as formulated in the North Sea Agreement (pdf, 1.2 MB).
