Vattenfall Reveals Offshore Wind Research Projects

Swedish utility company Vattenfall has announced the first successful projects for its EUR 3 million research programme aimed at examining the environmental and socio-economic impacts of offshore wind farms.

Believed to be the largest-scale offshore wind research programme of its kind and one which will put Scotland at the industry forefront of research and development, the diverse range of projects selected will be based at Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in Aberdeen Bay.

The successful recipients of a share in the dedicated EOWDC fund, up to half of which is being provided by the European Union, include:

• The River Dee Trust, Aberdeenshire, and Marine Scotland Science – Assessing the interactions between salmon and sea trout with offshore wind technology. The project aims to help provide unknown information on the extent to which offshore wind farms influence salmon and sea trout.
• SMRU Consulting and the University of St Andrews, both St Andrews – Improving understanding of bottlenose dolphin movements along the east coast of Scotland. The project involves undertaking a comprehensive study of bottlenose dolphin movements throughout the development and part of the operational phase of the EOWDC to offer greater insight into bottlenose dolphins.
• MacArthur Green, Glasgow – Measuring connectivity between auk special protection areas populations and offshore wind farms, and tracking non-breeding season movements of adult auks. As such, the project aims to demonstrate that this could reduce future uncertainty in impact assessments and improve understanding of how auks engage and co-exist with Offshore Wind Farms. This project will fund a PhD student to work with the research team.
• Oxford Brookes University, Oxford – The socio-economic impact of offshore wind on the human environment. The project will analyse the socio-economic effects of the EOWDC from the construction stage through to becoming fully operational to help better understand how offshore wind developments can be maximised to benefit the region and local communities.

“The announcement of these successful projects including three in Scotland is an exciting one with each having the potential to unlock fascinating new insights into the offshore wind environment and determine influencing environmental factors,” Adam Ezzamel, EOWDC project director at Vattenfall, said.

“The 92.4MW EOWDC test and demonstration facility offers an unmissable opportunity to conduct this pioneering research and monitoring programme. We are pleased to be facilitating such innovative research in the North-east which will bring considerable benefits to the region as well as the industry and policy-making.”

Almost 100 applications from across the UK and overseas were submitted for the research programme with a shortlist of 16 selected by a specialist scientific panel comprised of environmental agencies, scientists, AREG and representatives of Vattenfall. The panel anticipates making a further funding announcement in the near future.

As Scotland’s largest offshore wind test and demonstration facility, the 11-turbine EOWDC is being developed by Vattenfall. Construction of the scheme, which features a number of innovations and industry firsts, started in October 2016 with first power expected in summer 2018.