NorTH EAST ENGLAND, UK.
Teesside Offshore Wind farm
Teesside Offshore Wind Farm has 27 wind turbines with a generating capacity of 62MW (enough to power about 50,000 homes). This site is highly important for conservation as it is located within a Special Protection Area (SPA) - the survey area holding internationally important numbers of Sandwich terns and nationally important populations of cormorants, sanderlings and common terns.
The effect of the wind farm on seabird flight behaviour was highly variable between species. Gradient analysis of flight density found no evidence of any disturbance effect on the flight activity of cormorant, kittiwake, great black-backed gull, herring gull, common tern and Sandwich tern. However there were reduced flight densities of red-throated diver, eider, common scoter and gannet within the wind farm, consistent with a displacement of up to 100 m for eider and common scoter, and up to 200 m for red-throated diver and gannet flights.
Collision modelling (Band 2012) showed risks based on the post-construction data to be broadly similar to those assessed previously, with no significant risks identified. Changes from the pre-construction baseline resulted from both differences in flight activity within the wind farm and in the proportion of flights at rotor height. Cormorant and red-throated diver both showed a reduced risk, largely as a result of their lower flight heights post-construction. Collision risks to herring gull, common tern and Sandwich tern were higher post-construction as a result of a combination of higher flight activity and a higher proportion flying at rotor height (possibly at least partly a result of improved feeding opportunities within the wind farm).
Utilising data from two years pre-construction and three years post-construction revealed a minimal effect of the wind farm on bird numbers in the survey area. Recorded declines in oystercatchers, knot, dunlin and redshank were similar across the whole SPA rather than specific to the wind farm, likely a reflection of external factors. The distribution patterns were broadly similar pre- and post-construction, with no major changes attributed to the operational wind farm.
Higher densities of common and Sandwich terns were recorded within the wind farm, indicating a lack of any disturbance effect on these species. No effects were apparent either for cormorant or kittiwake. However, there was partial displacement of red-throated divers from within the wind farm (a 59% reduction), and for gannet (an 81% reduction). The displacement of gannets also extended beyond the wind farm, with a 41% reduction in the 0-500 m zone, 21% in the 500 m-1 km zone and 5% in the 1-2 km zone.
