New Report Proposes Measures for Nature-Inclusive Design of Scottish Offshore Wind Projects

August 8, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

A new report published in Scotland has put forward several recommendations for a nature-inclusive design framework for offshore wind projects.

The report was commissioned by Crown Estate Scotland and prepared by the global consultancy company Xodus and the Dutch nature enhancement initiative The Rich North Sea as part of the Collaboration for Environmental Mitigation & Nature Inclusive Design (CEMNID) project.

The CEMNID project is a collaboration between offshore wind developers and Scottish regulators initiated by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC).

The report, published on 7 August, aims to establish guidelines to mitigate the environmental impacts associated with the construction and operation of offshore wind farms, particularly in the ScotWind areas.

The CEMNID project has provided a set of tools that offer a practical framework for the offshore wind sector to deliver projects with minimal impact and to benefit the marine environment.

These include a ‘Good Practice Mitigation Library’, a repository of good practice environmental mitigation strategies, backed by an efficacy review, to guide developers in minimising the environmental impact of offshore wind projects.

Furthermore, CEMNID has produced a suitability review of Nature Inclusive Design (NID) practices, assessing their applicability and effectiveness in the Scottish context. The report includes a SWOT analysis and suitability review for NID measures, particularly focusing on the habitat and species present in ScotWind areas.

The project has now brought forward the report for a recommended implementation framework, offering a set of guidelines for developers on how to incorporate these mitigation measures and NID principles into their projects, addressing key challenges and data gaps identified during the project.

The measures include fish hotels, adaptable rock protection measures, reef-type structures, mattresses for cable protection, and water replenishment holes (enabling water flow through monopiles).

Current mitigation measures for seabird colonies including adjusting turbine layouts in response to observed bird behaviours and increasing the ‘air gap’ between blades and the sea are highlighted as examples of best practice for future Scottish projects. The report also identifies the selection of infrastructure and vessel lighting and cable burial decisions as helping to minimise potential effects on ecological features.

The report recommends further investigation and trials of the most promising nature-inclusive measures, and for developers to consider them at the early design stages of offshore wind projects.

“By working to address key environmental uncertainties which pose a barrier to consenting and deployment, we’re moving closer to delivering a clear planning framework for offshore wind. Having such a framework is essential to underpin market confidence and vital for developers to take strategic decisions in a timely manner to unlock supply chain investment and deliver economic growth”, said Duncan Smart, senior planning & environmental policy manager at ScottishPower Renewables and chair, CEMNID Project Steering Group.

“The strong collaboration fostered through this project has been great to see as it is only by tackling shared challenges together that we will be able to maximise the success of offshore wind deployment”.