wind farm development in the irish sea- bronagh byrne
Post on 22-Oct-2014
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Bronagh Byrne, Environment and Consents Manager at DONG Energy will look at the value of environmental monitoring to the offshore wind industry and discuss how approaches to environmental monitoring are being improved.TRANSCRIPT
Bronagh Byrne Environment and Consents Manager, UK Operational Wind Farms
Environmental Monitoring
DONG Energy is one of the leading energy groupsin Northern Europe. We are headquartered in Denmark
Our business is based on procuring,producing, distributing and trading inenergy and related products in Northern Europe.
We have approximately 7,000 employees and generated DKK 73 billion (EUR 9.8 billion) in revenue in 2013.
EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION
WIND POWER
THERMAL POWER
ENERGY MARKETS
SALES & DISTRIBUTION
Ploudalmezeau
BarrowBurbo
Gunfleet Sands 1+ 2
London Array
Walney 1 +2
Nysted
Horns Rev 1+2
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER DEVELOPMENT
IN OPERATION
Lincs
Anholt
Borkum Riffgrund 1
WoDS
Walney 2.5
Dutch portfolio
Westermost Rough
Burbo 2.5Borkum Riffgrund 2
Wind Farm in operation ~1.3GW
Borkum Riffgrund West
Heron Wind & Njord (Hornsea zone)
Irish Sea Zone
Gode Wind 1+2+3
Wind PowerAssets and Pipeline
~1.4 GW under construction
Pipeline totals up to 7GW
DONG Energy 15 Years in the Irish Sea
Objectives of my presentation
Why is environmental monitoring important to the offshore wind industry
Where has environmental monitoring fallen short in the past
What is the future for environmental monitoring at offshore wind farms
Environmental monitoring is key to sustainable development of the offshore wind industry
Establishing a baseline
Enhance our understanding of impacts
Consent Compliance
Images courtesy of CMACS
Environmental Monitoring Helps Reduce Consenting Risk
Environmental monitoring has provided us with a lot of valuable information
Benthic ecology Colonisation of structures Operational noise Scour development Coastal processes Suspended sediment concentrations
Images courtesy of CMACS
What does bird monitoring look like for a Round 2 Project
pre con post0.00
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5.00
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9.00Lesser Black-backed Gull
springsummerautumn
Average densities of Lesser Black-backed Gull in the pre-construction (pre), construction (con) and post-construction (post) periods in the Survey Area 2008-2012
Boat based bird surveys May, July, August, September
BACI – Before After Control Impact
Approach to Environmental Monitoring Is Changing
Scale of development
Changing priorities
FEPA Licence vs Marine Licence
Future for Environmental Monitoring
monitoring must have a clear purpose in order to provide answers to specific questions where significant environmental
impacts have been identified
Proposed Monitoring of Red Throated Divers at Burbo Bank Extension
Issue: Uncertainty related to displacement of divers within Liverpool Bay SPA from proposed wind farm site during operation Species: Red Throated Diver
Approach: Monitoring scope to reflect a hypothesis driven approach for RTD populations covering:
1) Displacement effect, and 2) Change in density across the SPA
Methodology: Digital aerial surveys focussed on the wind farm site and an appropriate buffer area at a suitable resolution to address the displacement effect hypothesis
Lesser Black Backed Gulls Tagging Study
Proposed funding this year (2014) for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to tag lesser black backed gulls at the south Walney colony by DECC's offshore energy strategic environmental assessment (OESEA) .
Similar to project at Orfordness 2010 - 2014
DONG Energy have initially agreed with Natural England the potential for contributing to such a research project in place of non targeted project based monitoring.
Offshore Renewable Joint Industry Programme (ORJIP)
ORJIP is a collaborative joint industry project with 16 developers and 3 public bodies, funding research projects to better inform consenting authorities on the true environmental risk of offshore wind.
ORJIP research projects
1. Bird Collision Avoidance studyObjective: To improve evidence base informing bird collision avoidance rates to improve consenting decisionsDuration: 2.5yrs starting March 2014
2. Acoustic deterrent devicesObjective: Review and test efficacy of acoustic deterrent devicesDuration: 1.5 started expected to start September 2014
Further project scopes under development
Bird collision avoidance study
Objective To improve evidence base informing bird collision
avoidance rates to improve consenting decisions
Approach Install state of the art monitoring equipment in an
operational wind farm to monitor micro, meso and macro avoidance behaviours over 2-years
Data will improve collision risk models to provide greater certainty on the true risk of bird collisions
Site: Vattenfall’s Thanet wind farm, north of Kent
Duration: 2.5years, starting March 2014
Image: Andreas Trepte, www.photo-natur.de; The Telegraph 2008
Environmental Monitoring Box Ticking Exercise or Valuable Enterprise ?
Vital to the continued growth of the offshore wind industry
Use the lessons learnt from Round 1 and Round 2
Work together to maximise results