Background and history

In the period prior to 2016, the development of knowledge was largely organised at a decentralised level. At the time, a different licensing system was in place and the Offshore Wind Energy Act had not come into law. Each wind farm was subject to a mandatory monitoring and evaluation programme (MEP) so that know-how about the possible ecological effects of the specific wind farm could be developed. The results of this were included in the permit current at the time. The first wind farms - Egmond aan Zee (OWEZ), Prinses Amalia Windpark (PAWP), Luchterduinen and Gemini - had their own specific research programme that was derived from the mandatory MEP. Wozep continues to build on the know-how derived from these MEP studies.

The government too, was already involved in studies looking into the more generic effects of offshore wind energy on the North Sea’s ecosystem. European regulations require that where the level of uncertainty of the impact of construction and use of large offshore projects is high, a safety margin must be assumed as a precautionary measure, or principle. To acquire more know-how, in 2011 the government carried out a so-called short list study in respect of the ecological monitoring of offshore wind, and in 2013, a follow-up execution masterplan for offshore wind. A key starting document for these two studies was the masterplan for offshore wind, a collection of knowledge questions about the ecological effects of offshore wind energy.

KEC (Framework for Assessing Ecological and Cumulative Effects)

With the Policy Document on the North Sea 2016-2021 (pdf, 26 MB) the government committed itself to the formulation and implementation of the KEC, a framework for assessing the ecological and cumulative effects of offshore wind energy. This means there is now an instrument to determine whether completed and planned wind farms, together (i.e. cumulatively), will not lead to ‘significantly negative effects’ on the ecology.

The focus here is on the effects on marine mammals, a number of species of seabirds and migratory birds, the Nathusius' pipistrelle bat, ecosystem effects, and the relevant descriptors in the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive. These are the species and processes for which an impact is expected, which are vulnerable, and/or have a legally protected status. In order to prevent or minimize negative effects, where necessary, measures (such as the underwater sound level standard or a shutdown facility) will be included in the decision-making process for new wind farm locations. Owners of offshore windfarms are obliged to meet the statutory requirements of this decision-making process.

International

On the international front too, there was, and still is, a need for knowledge about the ecological effects of offshore wind farms. In 2016, ministers in countries bordering the North Sea agreed to develop a joint framework for environmental impact reporting (Common Environmental Assessment Framework - CEAF).

A number of participants in the CEAF group have participated in SEANSE, the EU GECO-financed project in which a number of interesting options have been fleshed out for identifying the cumulative effects (or more precisely, ‘in-combination’ effects) of wind farm development at a North Sea scale.

In that same year, 2016, the North Sea Energy Cooperation (NSEC) was established. This is a partnership of energy ministers of North and Irish Sea countries whose aim is the joint development of offshore renewable energy, the reduction of costs, and the efficient use of space.

The NSEC group, which works on marine spatial planning and ecology, then went on to identify the major spatial problems involved in the development of wind farms in the North Sea and the Irish Sea. The most important of these, it turned out, was the ecology. To get a clearer picture of these problems, the cumulative effects of wind farm development in relation to the entirety of the North Sea have been identified. This includes an outline of the following: 1) the relative significance of offshore wind farms compared to the effects of other activities; 2) the possible effects at an ecosystem level (food chain), and; 3) the possible positive effects on the ecology.

Shortlist Offshore Wind
VUM