Germany to Open Tender for Avifauna and Marine Mammal Surveys in Two Offshore Wind Areas

German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has issued a prior information notice for a tendering procedure the agency plans to organise to procure ecological studies of avifauna and marine mammals in the N-9.5 and N-12.5 offshore wind areas in the German exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the North Sea.

BSH plans to issue an invitation to tender in the first quarter of 2025 and to have the surveys underway from July 2025 to June 2027.

The tender will be divided into nine lots with the first lot to be awarded for the planning and project coordination of the investigations that will be carried out under the remaining lots.

The survey programme includes ship-based (lots 2-7) and aircraft-based (lots 8 and 9) surveys of avifauna (resting and migratory birds) and marine mammals, including porpoise detector (POD) stations. The survey results will be delivered in area-related reports.

The two offshore wind sites were defined in the Draft Site Development Plan published on 7 June 2024 and are currently under preliminary site investigation.

Site N-9.5 is planned to be tendered in 2028 and site N-12.5 in 2029. The tendering process will be carried out by the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur; BNetzA).