Development of a standardised marine mammal monitoring system for the tidal energy industry

Many countries have set ambitious renewable energy targets with offshore sources anticipated to form an important part of this; for example, it is estimated that one fifth of the electrical supply in the UK could come from marine (wave and tidal stream) resources. However, the environmental impacts of tidal turbines on marine wildlife (particularly seals, whales, and dolphins) is largely unknown. One major concern is the potential for marine mammals to collide with the rotating turbine blades causing injury or death. It is critical to learn whether this concern is valid by collecting data on the underwater movements of marine mammals around operating tidal turbines. Collecting these data is extremely challenging and available methods for measuring movements of marine mammals underwater and interactions with tidal turbines are limited. However, a small number of cutting-edge technologies have the ability to detect and track marine mammals underwater; these are underwater video, and active- and passive-acoustic tracking. This project will design and build a standardised marine mammal detection and tracking system based on the integration of this suite of technologies for the tidal energy industry. The system will be designed to be standardised in terms of the data collected but will be flexible to ensure it can be integrated into a range of different tidal turbine designs and can be deployed in a variety of different tidal environments. Effectively, the system will be designed to be 'plug and play' so that it can be integrated easily with future tidal turbines, and can be deployed and retrieved with minimal impact to turbine operation. Further, to ensure that the data collected by the system is standardised and therefore comparable between future monitoring studies, a series of open source and freely available data archiving and analysis tools for the datasets will be provided. Overall, this project aims to deliver a unique monitoring tool that will provide the Tidal Energy Industry with a data collection system that may be required as part of their consent monitoring conditions, and will provide regulatory authorities with the evidence base upon which to make informed decisions about marine mammal collision risk during the consenting process for tidal energy developments.

keywords: tidal stream energy, tidal turbines, marine mammals, collision risk, impact assessments, sonar, video, hydrophones, seals, dolphins, porpoises, behaviour, underwater tracking

stakeholders: Regulators, Tidal Developers, Statutory Advisors, Scottish Government, Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural Resources Wales, Atlantis Resources Ltd

This project aims to directly address paucity of data on the risks posed by tidal turbines to marine mammals; in many cases, the primary risk to the consenting of new tidal energy developments. The overarching outcomes of the project will directly impact policy makers, regulatory agencies, and the marine renewable energy community through the provision of a standardised 'plug and play' monitoring system that can collect data to address this significant data gap.
Developing a system that can collect data on the behaviour of marine mammals around operating tidal turbines will directly inform collision risk models and will provide Regulators and their Statutory Advisors with the evidence base to make informed consenting decisions regarding the suitability of tidal energy developments. This will further enable appropriate consideration of the need for constraints, monitoring and mitigation measures to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Regulatory bodies will therefore be the primary beneficiaries from the project outputs.
Providing a system for collecting standardised data on marine mammal collision risk will also enable tidal technology and project developers to collect data that may be required as part of their consent monitoring conditions. As such, this should provide the Tidal Energy Industry with a means of collecting empirical evidence to improve confidence in the level of risk from future projects thus securing investor confidence in the future pipeline of UK projects.

The secondary beneficiaries from the project will include:

The marine renewable development community: Providing a robust monitoring system to deliver the scientific evidence base for regulatory decisions to be made regarding marine energy industry growth and upscaling will help remove barriers to industry development. Additionally, providing evidence pathways to appropriate mitigation strategies will enable industry to address potential negative environmental impacts through appropriate design modifications. Ensuring environmental impacts associated with marine renewable energy are minimised would also enhance the case for industry expansion.

Wider society through environmental benefit: A sustainable marine renewable sector will likely displace fossil fuel consumption both at home and abroad leading to a reduction in carbon emissions and the associated climate benefits that this brings. The will have a direct impact on societal health and well-being and, if the transition from carbon based fuel consumption can be associated with technology that is environmentally benign, then the benefit will be further increased.

The UK economy: The energy industry represents 4.5% of GDP in the UK economy. If viable growth can be achieved, the marine renewable sector offers opportunities to maintain the vibrancy of the UK energy industry as the oil and gas sector decreases. Additionally, the UK economy would directly benefit from revenue generation and enhanced security of energy supply provided by generation of indigenous electricity through operation of marine renewable energy technologies. The potential for development of export markets for UK technology and expertise would also have a positive impact on UK GDP, benefit local (often rural) communities, and provide significant potential for job creation.