Environmental impact of a wind farm: acoustic impact, hazards for marine environment, prevention and monitoring
23rd September 2021 (10.00 – 12.00 CET)
Assessing environmental impacts of offshore wind farms is very important. Offshore wind power provides a valuable source of renewable energy that can help reduce carbon emissions. Technological advances are allowing higher capacity turbines to be installed and in deeper water, but there is still much that is unknown about the effects on the environment. The major environmental concerns related to offshore wind developments are increased noise levels, risk of collisions, changes to benthic and pelagic habitats, alterations to food webs, and pollution from increased vessel traffic or release of contaminants from seabed sediments.
The UK has a very enviable record in the installation and operation of offshore wind. Having installed more than 10 GW the UK has a lot of experience in the development of wind farms. There are many consultancies who can help in environmental impact assessments. During this workshop we will focus on lessons learned and recommendations for the future.
10:00-10:05
Introduction
Michal Sobczyk
Senior Trade Manager – Poland and Baltics
Scottish Development International
Speaker Profile
Janusz Bil
Director, Energy & Renewables Export
British Embassy in Warsaw
Speaker Profile
10:05-10:20
FaunaGuard - Offshore Marine Life Protection
Andrew Gillespie
Programme leader
ACE Aquatec
Speaker Profile
10:20-10:25
Q&A
10:25-10:45
Foundations installation: cutting-edge solutions to mitigate piling noise.
Rafał Libera
Group Integration Manager
Acteon Group
Speaker Profile
10:45-10:50
Q&A
10:50-11:20
Offshore wildlife surveys: Principles of good ecological survey design
Gillian Sutherland
Director of Marine
Apem Ltd
Speaker Profile
11:20-11:25
Q&A
11:25-11:40
Tools for Offshore Installation – Noise Mitigation and Pile to Jacket Grippers
Charlie Whyte
CFO
W3G Marine
Alan West, Managing Director, W3G Marine
11:40-11:45
Q&A
11:45-12:00
Services for Offshore Wind and Underwater Acoustics
Dr Mark-Paul
Managing Director
Xi Engineering Consultants
Speaker Profile
12:00 - 12:10
Closing remarks
Michal Sobczyk
Senior Trade Manager – Poland and Baltics
Scottish Development International
Speaker Profile
Janusz Bil
Director, Energy & Renewables Export
British Embassy in Warsaw
Speaker Profile
The Department for International Trade (DIT) promotes British businesses worldwide. DIT is an international trade department, responsible for:
- Bringing together policy, promotion and financial expertise to break down barriers to trade and investment, and help businesses succeed;
- Promoting British trade and investment across the world;
- Building the global appetite for British goods and services.
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DIT is looking to attract inward investors into the UK while at the same time making sure that companies in the UK can export their goods to the wider world.
The UK has a very enviable record in the installation of offshore wind. The UK has been driving this market for a number of years now and is the single largest country with the installed base for offshore wind with over 10 GW of installed capacity in UK waters.
UK strengths in clean industries:
- The UK is the world leader in low carbon and the statement on net zero by 2050 was announced recently. This will act as an accelerant for the transition to low carbon economy.
- We have made sizeable steps in the decarbonising our electricity – we are world leaders in offshore wind with above 10GW of installed capacity and committed to 40GW by 2030.
- We have driven the cost reduction in offshore wind as well as in solar – enabling cost competitive renewables across the world.
- Because of the experience gained from installing large number of wind farms (over 30) we have expertise in operation, maintenance and marine services. The UK has engineering and project management expertise that is essential in the successful delivery of offshore wind farms.
- The UK has developed a strong and stable regulatory framework to drive investments in the clean growth sectors.
- The huge scale of the UK industry has led to a growing and innovating offshore wind supply chain capability across the wind farm life-cycle, from surveys and feasibility, to manufacture and supply, installation, operation and maintenance, and related financial and professional services.
Scottish Development International is Scotland’s trade and foreign direct investment agency.
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Scottish Development International is Scotland’s trade and foreign direct investment agency. Its aim is to encourage more overseas businesses to set up a location here, invest in Scottish businesses or buy Scottish products. We do this by providing information, partnering with businesses and investors who want to set up or invest here, and helping businesses find the connections they need.
We can also help businesses around the world access the huge range of high quality products and services offered in Scotland. Whether you’re looking to import our top-quality products – from whisky and salmon to cutting-edge tech – access our professional services or use our specialised expertise for your project, we can help you find the suppliers you need.