Ilona Amos
The developers behind the UK’s largest offshore wind project are seeking
innovators to come up with tagging technology that can help understand the
behaviour of Scotland’s seabirds and minimise the environmental impact of
turbines.
EDP Renewables has consent to develop three massive wind farms in the Moray
Firth that collectively will generate enough power for 700,000 homes.
Each scheme will consist of up to 62 turbines, with a total capacity of
1,116 megawatts.
Known as Moray East, the developments will be sited 14 miles off the
Caithness coast.
As part of planning regulations, the potential environmental impact of the
wind farms must be understood. Current methods for monitoring wildlife are
costly, prone to failure and often do not give an accurate picture of
animals’ movements.
Now it is hoped more sophisticated gadgetry can be created that is more
effective, efficient and reliable.
Greater black-backed gulls, which are found in the Moray Firth, will be the
first species to test out the kit.
EDP Renewables has teamed up with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE)
Catapult research and innovation centre to launch the technical challenge,
which they say could lower the operating costs of a wind farm through
better environmental monitoring.
Catarina Rei, technical lead on the project for EDP Renewables, said:
“Environmental monitoring is already a big part of any wind farm planning
and post-construction monitoring, onshore and offshore, but the reality is
current monitoring techniques are expensive and not always representative
of real-world conditions.
“Developing accurate technology is an essential step in improving what we do.
“We’ll be able to gain a greater insight into bird and coastal species
behaviour, which will better inform the planning, consenting and
operational stage of an offshore wind farm development.”
Vicky Coy, ORE Catapult project manager , added: “The greater black-backed
gull is the ideal species to launch this innovation challenge with, as a
colony is found in the Moray Firth area.
“The technology developed for the tagging should minimise any interference
with the birds’ normal activities but, like the bird colonies it will
track, will have to be extremely resilient to the harsh weather conditions
found around the UK’s coastline.”
Conservationists have welcomed the prospect of gaining new insights into
the activities of seabirds, which have been notoriously difficult to study
due to practical limitations.
Alex Kinninmonth, head of marine policy at RSPB Scotland, said: “Exactly
where seabirds go when they leave land has puzzled generations, but finding
the answer has become increasingly important, with populations crashing and
the potential for conflict with human activity at sea increasing.
“Technology is beginning to provide valuable insights but the development
of small, low-cost, high-precision GPS tags will enable us to track the
movements of a greater number of birds over longer time periods and in
greater detail than current technology allows.
“This knowledge will greatly improve our ability to assess the risks on
breeding seabirds from offshore wind farms, oil spills and other
potentially harmful activities.”
0 Comments