Annex IV Workshop
Held at Environmental Impacts of Marine Renewables (EIMR)
Stornoway, UK
April 29, 2014
Summary
A one day workshop was held in Stornoway UK, in conjunction with the EIMR conference, to explore best practices for determining monitoring needs around wave and tidal energy converters, focusing on four key interactions of animals with devices: collision; attraction; avoidance/barrier effects; and mooring line interactions.
Background
The marine energy industry is young and continues to be challenged by a lack of information about potential environmental risks from wave and tidal energy converters. This information will allow for efficient siting and permitting (consenting) of devices, helping to accelerate the development of this renewable energy source in the portfolio of national energy capabilities worldwide. Monitoring results from early deployments of single devices and very small arrays, as well as targeted research studies, have provided information about risks associated with several key environmental interactions. However, the interactions continue to be uncertain, and little insight is available about how these risks might scale as we move toward larger deployments over longer time scales. This workshop was designed to take the next logical step toward decreasing uncertainty and understanding the risks inherent in deploying wave and tidal devices in coastal marine waters.
EIMR Workshop Report