Offshore wind – compensating for adverse effects on Protected European Sites: statutory guidance 2026

The Scottish Government has brought in new statutory guidelines which are supposedly to improve the compensation measures for adverse environmental and ecological effects of off shore windfarms. Providing adequate compensation for effects such as the killing of seabird populations has apparently been a ‘barrier’ to getting consent for off shore windfarms!

This guidance, which developers favour, will bring Scotland more into line with England where Ed Milliband, the urban Energy Secretary, has brought in legislation which allows for ‘compensation measures’ predicted to affect or wipe out a sea bird colony, to occur in an entirely different UK area, although the compensation package is still supposed to be evidence based before approval is given.

We are aware that to date, schemes such as this in England have resulted in approved ‘mitigation’ measures being located in Dumfries and Galloway ( Irish sea coast) for sea bird populations affected by windfarm development off Norfolk (North sea coast).This designated compensation area is clearly hundreds of miles from the area of marine damage. The success of such compensation will therefore rely on bird species changing their normal migratory patterns. I wonder if anyone has told the birds?!

There is a requirement in the guidelines upon developers for monitoring the success or failure of their mitigation measures (as is supposed to happen with many on shore windfarms), but as usual, monitoring in itself is meaningless without remediation measures in the event of failure and there is nothing in the guidelines that sets out what should be done if the wildlife doesn’t adapt to new habitats set out for them.

At least UK and Scottish Governments are now admitting that such windfarms are, in fact, decimating local marine bird populations and that this is a problem!  https://www.gov.scot/publications/compensating-adverse-effects-offshore-wind-protected-european-sites-scotland-statutory-guidance-2026/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTGHkhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeT8Q2oHwFNJjGPVxzguLX5lk7P0Gl3DmPAzLY7QqThauwEiPZJlpK7m7a0ac_aem_1HppLegCAh8SsIf-4EoN4Q