Wind farms may pose risk to shipping

The rush to build massive offshore wind farms around Britain's coastline may pose a safety risk to shipping and other maritime users, transport officials have warned.

By Richard Gray Last Updated: 9:07AM GMT 26 Oct 2008

Plans to build more off-shore wind turbines - such as the Burbo Bank in the mouth of the River Mersey - may be affected by the Department of Transport concerns
The Department for Transport has told the wind energy industry that shipping operators have serious concerns about plans to build thousands of huge wind turbines out at sea in a bid to meet the Government's ambitious renewable energy targets.
Cargo ship owners and yachting groups fear the turbines, which will in some cases be more than 600 ft tall – as high as three Nelson's Columns – will pose a navigation hazard in already-busy stretches of water.
They claim that diverting large cargo ships and tankers around wind farms will lead to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions from heavy shipping, which would cancel out much of the carbon dioxide savings wind farms are intended to deliver.
There is also research that suggests such large structures cause interference to ships' radar, making it hard to spot other craft.
Speaking at a conference organised by the wind energy industry, Ian Woodman, director of maritime and dangerous goods at the Department for Transport, warned that wind farm developers faced significant objections to their plans for offshore turbines.
It comes just days after the Crown Estate, holder of the Queen's property and owner of almost the entire sea bed up to 12 nautical miles from the UK coast, revealed that 110 companies and consortia have expressed interest in building new offshore wind farms.
The Crown Estate has promised to assist developers by paying up to half of all pre-construction development costs, sparking a surge in applications for licenses to build in UK territorial waters.
But Mr Woodman said the shipping industry feared new developments would have adverse impacts on the way they run their business.
He said: "They certainly are aware of the extent of the offshore wind farm applications and they are quite concerned about the potential implications it has for the way they go about their jobs and for what it means for maritime safety.
"It is up to us in government to assist developers to tackle these concerns."
The Government wants 33 gigawatts of electricity-generating capacity to be built in the seas around Britain by 2020, together with an additional 14 gigawatts from onshore wind farms.
Ministers have set a target of having wind generate at least one-third of all of the UK's electricity within 12 years.
Critics, however, insist that wind energy is too unreliable to replace the creaking network of fossil fuel power stations and would require an extensive network of back-up power stations that does not rely upon the wind on calm days.
Wind farm developers have also relied upon extensive subsidies to help them earn a profit, due to the expense of building and maintaining turbines.
The push to build wind farms offshore, where wind speeds are higher and more reliable, has also been partly fuelled by the objections and delays that developers face when seeking planning permission for onshore turbines.
A number of major energy firms including Centrica, Airtricity, ScottishPower Renewables and REPower are believed to have expressed interest in the latest round of offshore licenses. Currently 19 offshore wind farms have been given approval for development, while three are under construction and five are already operational.
The new round of licensing will open up a further 11 huge areas for development further offshore.
Mark Brownrigg, director general of the Chamber of Shipping, warned that building wind farms posed a serious safety threat in busy shipping regions such as the North Sea and the Thames Estuary, where 271 turbines are to be built as part of the £1.5 billion London Array.
He said that in bad weather conditions the wind turbines would add an extra hazard to be avoided by shipping and maritime users.
Mr Brownrigg said: "Offshore wind farms can pose serious threats to shipping – because of the navigational safety implications when wind farms are located to close to established shipping routes, and where they cause interference to ships' radar.
"Where ships are forced to deviate around wind farm sites, that may negate some of the environmental benefits they were intended to bring."
The TaxPayers' Alliance will warn next month, in a report on UK energy production, that forcing heavy ships to divert around wind farms will increase their fuel consumption, carbon emissions and running costs.
Shipping industry leaders plan to seek compensation from wind farm developers for the extra costs they incur, in a move that could further drive up the cost of offshore electricity production.
The UK shipping industry contributes £11 billion to the gross domestic product and supports more than 185,000 jobs. More than 90 per cent of goods imported into the UK are brought by ship.
The fishing industry has also expressed concern at the impact of wind farms, particularly the risk of boats snagging underwater cables that have broken free from their trenches.
The Royal Yachting Association has raised fears about the risk of collisions with turbines.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport said: "The Government is keen that the shipping and energy industries should work together in the development of offshore windfarms.
"To that end the Government has established the Nautical and Offshore Renewable Energy Liaison group (NOREL) which brings together the relevant Government Departments and representatives of the Shipping and Energy industries.
"We encourage all windfarm developers to enter into early dialogue with the Chamber of Shipping so that any issues can be addressed early in the planning process."