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In the rush to establish extensive and numerous oshore

acilities to provide clean renewable energy or the uture, the

issue o marine biodiversity is oten overlooked. A joint project

between IUCN, the multinational energy corporation E.ON and

the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

(SIDA) seeks to improve the environmental perormance

o oshore renewable energy projects and develop

comprehensive guidance to ensure best private sector practice.

The guidelines produced will also serve to inorm the policy

and practice o the conservation community and governments,especially in developing countries.

Oshore wind energy Hope or hype?

Oshore wind could potentially supply between 12 and 16 per

cent o the total EU electricity demand by 2030. This equates

to more than 25,000 wind turbines, in wind arms covering

up to 20,000 square kilometres o the European continental

shel. Other countries worldwide are also exploring oshore

renewable energy including the USA, Japan, India and Eastern

Arica.

However, any type o energy production will exert some

impact on the local and global environment. In reducing the

atmospheric impacts rom our energy sources, we must avoid

replacing one set o signifcant impacts with another.

Whilst acknowledging that research into the impacts o the

oshore renewable industry is still in its inancy, it is widely

regarded that the risk or impacts on the marine environment

may not be negligible and must be taken seriously.

IUCN flls the gap

IUCN, in partnership with E.ON and SIDA, has developedguidance to support best practice biodiversity considerations.

It is envisaged that the guidance will also serve to inorm

the policy and practice o the conservation community

and governments. This is especially relevant or developing

countries where capacity is lower but renewable energy

inrastructure is increasingly promoted.

The guidance provides a synthesis o current knowledge on

the potential biodiversity impacts o oshore wind energy on

the marine environment. It is based on scientifc evidence and

experiences rom oshore renewable energy development

and other relevant sectors. The oundation o the document

is a review o more than 1000 reports and documents, at least

400 o which are peer-reviewed articles published in scientifc

Greening Blue EnergyIdentiying and managing the biodiversity risks andopportunities o oshore renewable energy

June 2010

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

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journals, and results are presented in a jargon-ree and

balanced way. It aims to be user-riendly as well as structured

in a way to provide more detail or those that need it and

ultimately to encourage improvements in the sustainability o

the oshore renewable energy industry. Overall, the guidance

promotes the consideration o science-based impact research,

suitable or conducting, scoping and evaluating Strategic

Environmental Assessments (SEAs) and Environmental Impact

Assessments (EIAs), based on international and nationalstandards.

Threats and opportunities

Oshore wind arms can also provide advantages or local

wildlie through the establishment o no fshing zones and

the creation o artifcial rees where marine species can thrive.

But i not properly planned and managed, the installations

can adversely aect marine biodiversity. The reporthighlights

issues such as habitat loss or birds and sea creatures, potential

collisions with wind turbines, deviation o the migratory routes

o birds and whalesnoise and electromagnetic disturbance

and navigational hazards or ships.

Avoiding sensitive sites, integrating the development o wind

arms in marine management decisions, using clever designs

and osetting residual impacts will minimize impacts and

maximize the benefts or biodiversity, the report says. It will

also help reduce the time spent on compulsory environmental

assessment or licensing o wind arms, which currently takes

around 5 years.

Recommendations

Strategic and Governance (Management) Wind arm development within territorial waters

should be incorporated within Integrated Coastal Zone

Management (ICZM) and spatial planning instruments,

where applicable.

Coordination o conservation measures (e.g. Natura

2000 designation) and wind power development should

be acilitated through enhanced inormation exchange

among authorities.

Cumulative eects o concurrent development activities

should be minimised by coordinating at central level both

the timing and the selection o areas or construction by

dierent developers.

Mitigation Monitoring

Mitigation o impacts can be done in many stages, based

on a so-called mitigation hierarchy, e.g. through avoiding

sensitive sites, mitigating impacts through clever design

and compensating or residual impacts, or through osets.

Ongoing monitoring will be crucial to identiy how

successul previous mitigation strategies have been in

avoiding or reducing impacts on the marine environment.Future decisions can integrate new fndings and mitigate

new threats.

Learning rom other processes, other types o installation

(e.g. multi-use sites in Japan) should not be overlooked.

Uncertainty and points to address

Substantial knowledge gaps and uncertainties still exist

in this area, and these hamper the eective assessment

o impacts and the issuing o some construction and

operational permits.

There are major dierences in regulating actors, species

and habitats at dierent latitudes and scales o wind arm

development.

Environmental Impact Assessment

To avoid arbitrary or non-precautionary approaches, solid

scientifcally based standards and threshold values or

assessments o impacts should be developed at national,

and i possible also at regional levels.

Additionally, international guidelines and inormation

exchange networks (such as EMODNET) should be

established to minimise local and national obstacles to

conduct and scope EIAs.

The relevant criteria upon which impact prognoses are

to be based should be clarifed at national as well as

transnational levels.

Appropriate assessments o cumulative eects should be

supported by data provided at SEA level.

Research

Research on species distribution and abundance over

annual cycles, population structures and status, as well

as the development o analytical tools or assessing

ecosystem and cascading eects are required.

Strategic research to develop species-specifc sensitivity

indices in relation to oshore wind energy development

(currently only available or birds) in dierent lie stages

and in dierent regions is also required. More research on the eects o noise and electromagnetic

felds on dierent species, as well as the mechanism and

cues underlying avoidance behaviour by birds, is required

or the development o appropriate mitigation strategies

where necessary. In addition, the potential benefts o

fshery closures and the provision o artifcial habitats as

a by-product o wind arm development should be urther

explored.

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

For more inormation, please contact:

James Oliver: james.oliver@iucn.org

Nadine McCormick: nadine.mccormick@iucn.org

Georgios Sarantakos: georgios.sarantakos@iucn.org