On August 2-3, 2012 the Foundation organized the workshop concerning the marine environmental research for the purpose of the environmental impact assessment procedure for offshore wind farms, which took place in Gdańsk.

The workshop was attended by: the Deputy General Director for Environmental Protection – Mr Piotr Otawski, Deputy Director of the Environmental Impact Assessment Department in GDEP – Ms Katarzyna Twardowska, Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Gdańsk – Ms Hanna Dzikowska, Regional Nature Conservator in Gdańsk – Ms Joanna Jarosik, Chief of Environmental Protection and Nature 2000 Areas Department in RDEP Szczecin – Ms Dorota Janicka, employees of appropriate departments in GDEP and RDEP Gdańsk and Szczecin who are directly engaged in conducting environmental impact assessment procedures for offshore wind farms planned in Polish maritime areas and representatives of appropriate administrative authorities from Germany (BSH), Denmark (Danish Energy Agency) and Finland (Ministry of Environment). The workshop was also joined by numerous highly – regarded Polish and foreign experts in marine environmental research and environmental impact assessment for offshore wind farms.

The participants of the seminar discussed the following issues:

• • legal aspects of environmental impact assessment for offshore wind farms,
  • European standards of marine environmental research for offshore wind farms,
  • the results of the post-construction monitoring programmes conducted for operating offshore wind farms in Germany and Denmark (Germany: OWF Alpha Ventus, Denmark: OWF Nysted, OWF Horns Rev),
  • recommended scope and methodology of surveys concerning biotic and abiotic elements of the marine environment for the needs of offshore wind farm projects planned in Polish maritime areas, taking into account the conditions of the Baltic Sea.

The workshop was organized as a part of the “National program of offshore wind energy development” executed by the Foundation for the Sustainable Energy. In the current year first location permissions for offshore wind farms in Polish maritime areas have been issued. There have also already been initiated first procedures for the issuance of the environmental decisions for this type of projects. We can expect that first marine environmental research programmes for the purpose of environmental impact assessment for offshore wind farms planned within the borders of the Polish exclusive economic zone will be commenced in the coming months.

As the scope and process of the marine environmental research programme are crucial for the proper environmental impact assessment of a project and thus its final shape, it is very important to conduct environmental research campaigns for different projects in accordance with comparable methodologies. Comparability of the research results enables a reliable assessment of cumulative impacts of planned offshore wind farms. Therefore the Foundation has decided to undertake actions aiming at determining optimal standards of marine environmental research for the purpose of the EIA procedure for this type of investments. The workshop was another step to order the knowledge in this field. The Foundation has already elaborated the “Guide to the location determination and environmental impact forecasting procedures for offshore wind farms in Polish maritime areas”, which is the first and only guide on the Polish market which comprehensively describes all the problems associated with preparing and conducting the location determination and environmental procedures for offshore wind farms in Poland. The Foundation is going to continue its actions to agree the standards of research of biotic and abiotic elements of the marine environment for the needs of EIA procedures for offshore wind farms with appropriate authorities and to disseminate them.

Below you will find the information material from the conference, which have been developed by the Foundation (available only in Polish). The full version of the document is available only for the companies cooperating with the Foundation.

“Marine environmental research for the purpose of environmental impact assessment for OWF”