In this edition of New Energy Expert Insights, we sat down with Dr Rachel Przeslawski, Practice Lead at RPS, to discuss Marine Ecology and Offshore Wind Farms in Australia.
Dr Rachel Przeslawski is a subject matter expert on environmental impacts on marine ecosystems, including those from the Australian offshore wind sector. She has worked across state and federal governments, investigating how seismic surveys may affect marine invertebrates and characterising biodiversity in Australian marine parks. She has also led over 225 collaborators to develop a suite of national standard methods for sampling in Australia’s oceans.1
RPS is a leading global provider of consulting and engineering services. RPS describes its role as defining, designing and managing projects that create shared value in a complex, urbanising and resource-scarce world.2 RPS works on major offshore wind projects, drawing on a broad range of expertise to support its clients and help shape the industry’s future.3
What is ‘benthic marine ecology’?
‘Marine ecology’ is the study of how marine organisms interact with their environment, and ‘benthic’ refers to the bottom of a body of water (e.g. the seabed). Benthic marine ecologists therefore investigate the relationships between the seafloor and the organisms living on, near, or beneath it.
There is robust debate about whether offshore wind projects are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for marine environments. As a marine ecologist, what do you see as the impact of offshore wind projects on the surrounding marine environment?
It is rare for anything we do in the marine environment to be simply good or bad. From an environmental impact perspective, people often want simple answers, but ecology is inherently complex. It can be challenging for scientists to convey this complexity in an easily understandable way.
For example, two contrasting impacts of offshore wind projects on marine ecology include:
- Artificial reefs. Once an offshore wind project is established, the fixed foundations can act as an artificial reef that supports marine life. The infrastructure is conducive to colonisation by a host of organisms and it can support locally increased biodiversity. This is usually recognised as a positive outcome of offshore wind installations and will likely influence how decommissioning requirements of future projects are approached.
- Seabed disturbance. During the construction of fixed foundations, the seabed below the offshore wind turbines will be disturbed. Although the soft sediment seabeds are very widely spread and may seem barren, they are actually teeming with microscopic and macroscopic organisms – known as infauna (pictured below) – which play a crucial role in the marine food chain and nutrient cycling. Installation of offshore wind infrastructure may disrupt this habitat and marine infauna on a local scale.
Ultimately, there is likely to be a trade-off between localised impacts and broader global benefits of offshore wind projects.
Picture 1: marine infauna. Source: Rachel Przeslawski, RPS
How can the industry better understand the environmental impacts of offshore wind projects?
Proponents are required by law to understand the environment they are proposing to operate in, and they are responsible for mitigating and managing the impacts that they may cause. Environmental baseline studies (EBS) are a recognised approach to understand the ecology of a proposed offshore wind zone. EBS help stakeholders understand the risks of developments and therefore guide the design and location of turbines and subsea cables. The data-driven nature of EBS is essential to understand how an offshore project will affect the local ecology and what can be done to mitigate those impacts. EBS are also the precursor to a robust monitoring program to validate predicted impact levels and to ensure effectiveness of mitigation activities after operations begin.
EBS are, however, complex and time-consuming. They are not a single snapshot of an area, but instead a multi-year program that accounts for seasonal and interannual cycles of marine environments and species’ behaviours. Completing the studies involves liaising with a variety of specialists and regulators.
How similar is the environmental impact of offshore wind compared to offshore oil and gas?
From an ecological perspective, most large offshore infrastructure projects could have similar impacts if not managed appropriately, including:
- during the construction phase, seabed disturbance and underwater noise can affect hearing or fauna behaviour; and
- during the operation phase, structures can act as obstacles and change migration paths, affect animal behaviour or displace animals from important foraging or breeding grounds. Conversely, the structure may become an artificial reef, attracting species and creating new ecosystems.
However, there are some differences between offshore oil and gas and offshore wind projects, including that offshore wind projects:
- ultimately aim to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel energy sources and CO2 emissions;
- do not carry the risk of large scale oil spills or related pollutants from infrastructure; but
- are likely to have a larger spatial footprint because of the physical scale of wind farms.
Overall, the differences and similarities between offshore oil, gas and windfarms, as well as the unique risks posed by offshore wind projects, are still being evaluated. Proponents rely on published literature and baseline study data, with reference to the overseas offshore wind industry, to inform project modelling and their risk and impact assessments. Although this information provides proponents with a high degree of confidence that good environmental outcomes will be achieved, ongoing monitoring and adaptive management plans will likely be needed to address residual scientific uncertainty about the exact ecological impacts of offshore wind projects in Australia.
There is much misinformation in the debate around the economic feasibility and environmental impact of offshore wind. How prevalent is misinformation in this sector and how can it be combatted?
Unsurprisingly, perceptions of offshore wind projects can be influenced by factors other than scientific evidence. Misinformation can be spread easily and rapidly and can be used by people to further their beliefs, even when scientific evidence does not support their position.
Misinformation is particularly common in relation to arguments that offshore wind projects are damaging to large marine vertebrates. For example, there have been recent claims that offshore wind projects have killed whales. However, there has never been a recorded collision, entanglement, beaching or death of a whale due to a wind farm. Whales may be affected by the noise caused during the installation of offshore wind infrastructure (for example, pile-driving fixed foundations). However, there is strong evidence that mitigation methods such as bubble curtains reduce this noise to levels unlikely to cause harm. On the other hand, whales may be negatively impacted by warming waters, which can be addressed, at least in part, by offshore wind power generation as a replacement to fossil fuels.
It sometimes seems impossible to combat misinformation. However, we aim to ease concerns by emphasising that the legal framework within which offshore wind developers operate requires careful planning, ongoing monitoring, and reporting to ensure compliance with legal requirements over the life of a project. For example, in the planning stages, environmental baseline data can support wind farm layout and turbine design to minimise impacts to sensitive fauna. If environmental monitoring during project operations shows indications of significantly impacting marine life, then a developer will be required to identify and address those issues.
There may be a role for government to play in mandating the sharing of environmental data between developers, and eventually making sure it is publicly released. This would increase transparency and strengthen industry social license by letting the public actually see the marine environment around the wind farms and go some way to easing concerns about potential impacts.
By comparison, how do foreign governments protect marine environments during the construction and operation phases of offshore wind projects?
In some cases, developers receive significantly more support from governments when working in foreign jurisdictions. This support includes financial and advisory support, particularly when undertaking environmental assessments and monitoring. International developers have expected subsidies for this type of work, and some have been taken aback by the lack of support and high associated costs in Australia.
This creates, however, a novel opportunity for developers to collaborate, on sharing data and standardising methods of environmental monitoring and reporting. RPS is currently working on a program called the Regional Marine Environmental Baseline Study (RMEBS) which brings offshore wind farm developers together to collect data in a unified, cohesive and environmentally sustainable way.
How can governments and developers of offshore wind projects engage with First Nations people in a meaningful way?
Over the last five years, there has been a growing recognition of, and appreciation for, Indigenous knowledge, particularly among the marine science community. This includes partnering with, incorporating and facilitating Indigenous knowledge of Sea Country.
Early engagement and meaningful partnerships with Indigenous communities can reduce the likelihood of disturbing culturally significant sites. Seascapes that do not hold importance to developers may be highly sensitive and important for First Nations peoples. It is only through genuine, early engagement that participants can avoid harming these values. In particular, this means that international developers must engage with and learn from First Nations peoples and incorporate those learnings into projects.
It is important that developers move from seeing engagement with Indigenous groups as a ‘box ticking exercise’ and embrace the opportunity to empower Indigenous interests and share knowledge in a meaningful way. A good start would be for developers to adapt from Western-style types of engagement such as emails and information packs, to spending time in communities and building personal relationships to understand their histories, people and Country.
What do you see as the most significant environmental and ecological trends that will occur in offshore wind over the next five to ten years?
From an ecological perspective, the most exciting trends in the offshore wind industry over the next five to ten years may include:
- Victoria will be an offshore wind industry hub. Victoria has critical momentum and support from both the state and federal governments to take a commanding lead in developing offshore wind capacity and associated understanding of environmental impacts, effective monitoring and mitigation actions.
- Funding and scientific leadership will be established. The increasing attention paid to offshore wind projects has led to a surge in research programs, consortiums and science initiatives that will stabilise, but continue to grow while there is the political and industrial appetite for them.
- The benchmark for national coordination will be set. The offshore wind industry has the opportunity to set the benchmark for coordination and collaboration, particularly from a scientific and environmental perspective. Stakeholders have an opportunity to collaborate to efficiently and responsibly grow the industry by removing supplication of effort and focusing available funds on studies that will make a difference.
- We will generate new understandings of species, habitats and impacts. More detailed and nuanced understandings of Australia’s marine environment will be uncovered through the scientific research being undertaken, including the distribution of key habitats and species, how our marine megafauna move and behave, and how the marine environment may respond to cumulative impacts beyond just those associated with offshore renewables.
Finally, what excites you about working in the offshore wind industry?
The Australian offshore wind industry promises opportunities for participants to make a difference in the world’s fight against climate change and environmental decline. It is exciting that tangible improvements can be made on these issues. Additionally, because it is such a new industry, we have the chance to see entire work programs through from start to finish.
The offshore wind industry may also help address the typical doom and gloom that is common in marine science discussions. We constantly hear about coral bleaching and other climate-related impacts, which can be very disheartening. However, by focusing on the offshore wind industry as part of the solution to some of these issues, we build our optimism by making a positive impact. Ultimately, the learnings from research conducted in respect of offshore wind projects may allow us to leave the world in a better place.
For more information, please contact Matt Baumgurtel; Adriaan van der Merwe and William Ryan.
1NESP Marine and Coastal Hub, ‘Field Manuals for Marine Sampling to Monitor Australian Waters’, (Web Page) <https://marine-sampling-field-manual.github.io>
2RPS, ‘Solving problems that matter to a complex, urbanising and resource-scare world’, (Web Page) <https://www.rpsgroup.com/>.
3RPS, ‘Floating offshore wind’, (Web Page) <https://www.rpsgroup.com/renewables/floating-offshore-wind/>.
