Management Measures Tool for Marine Energy

Accessing Management Measures that Support Deployment of Wave and Tidal Energy Devices

As the marine renewable energy (MRE) industry moves beyond deployment of individual wave and tidal energy devices towards arrays, certain risks of MRE devices on the marine environment are not well understood and have led to onerous monitoring requirements placed on device developers.

A workshop was held in May 2017 with researchers, regulators, and developers to create the basis for the tool shown below. In consultation with the research and regulatory communities, it was agreed that applying a set of robust management measures could act as safeguards for marine animals and habitats until available monitoring data allows for determining the level of risk from MRE devices. At that point, measures could be dialed back or removed, if warranted. More information on the workshop and input for the tool can be found here.

The Management Measures Tool for Marine Energy shows management (or mitigation) measures from past or current MRE projects as a reference to help manage potential risks from future projects and allow them to move forward in the face of uncertainty, or until a risk can be retired. Additional management measures are regularly added by the OES-Environmental team. In addition to the searchable tool below, the information can be downloaded here. The download file includes additional details not shown below, including comments from stakeholders on past experience, cost of management measures, and when a management measure is needed.

View the instructions document for more in-depth details and examples on how to use the Management Measure Tool for Marine Energy or check out this webinar for an overview and demonstration of the tool.

*Information in advantages and challenges comes from a SEA Wave report, and may also include information from the listed project documents.

^{Last updated June 2024}

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Technology	Project Phase	Stressor	Receptor	Management Measure	Advantages	Challenges	Project Documents
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Entanglement Potential for marine animals to become entangled in device mooring lines and cables.	Birds Diving birds	Design feature Minimize the number of mooring lines.	Reduce risk of entanglement.	Could be a costly measure for technology developers.
Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Changes in water flow The potential wider or secondary effects on protected or sensitive sub-littoral seabed due to removal or alteration of energy flow arising from devices and moorings or support structures.	Fish	Monitoring Modelling to predict the interaction between changes in tidal flow, flux, and turbulence structure and animals.	Reduces scientific uncertainty so appropriate management measures can be employed.	Limited management measures available to minimize interaction despite modelling to fully predict interaction.
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	EMF Impacts of electromagnetic fields from subsea cables on sensitive species.	Fish Elasmobranchs	Design feature Bundle cables together to reduce field vectors.	Reduce the level of EMF to surrounding water column and therefore any potential effects.	Less redundancy in system. Potential commercial and technical feasibility issues. Greater costs associated with not laying direct cable paths.	MeyGen 2012, MeyGen Tidal Energy Project
Wave, Tidal	Installation, Operation & Maintenance, Decommissioning	Vessel disturbance Potential for disturbance from project vessels.	Fish Elasmobranch, large fish	Mitigation Reduce speed and maintain steady course when animal is sighted.	Reduces potential effects and is a relatively low cost measure.	None identified	Aquatera Ltd 2011, Magallanes Renovables 2020, European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) 2020, SSE Renewables 2011, Magallanes Renovables 2020, Royal Haskoning 2012, Aquatera 2017, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 2020, Wello Penguin at EMEC, Magallanes Renovables ATIR at EMEC, EMEC Scapa Flow Scale Wave Test Site, Westray South Tidal Project, Oyster 800 at EMEC, Tocardo InToTidal at EMEC, PacWave South Test Site
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Habitat Creation The introduction of infrastructure and artificial substrates will provide potential roosting habitat.	Habitat Roosting birds	Monitoring Monitor use of device as a roosting platform.	Reduces scientific uncertainty around collision risk, displacement, and other impacts. Monitoring is relatively inexpensive to carry out.	Data mortgage (data gathered more quickly than it can be analyzed).
Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Collision risk Potential for collision with turbine blades.	Marine Mammals	Mitigation, Design feature Install a 'detect and deter' system using a combination of active sonar and acoustic deterrent device (ADD).	Could reduce likelihood of collision with moving blades and enable a route through the consenting process.	Would rely on well proven and reliable system - efficacy of ADDs is unknown in these environments and unknown if deterrent systems will help reduce risk. Expensive to implement. Questions around the effects of ADDs (e.g., added noise) on sensitive species. ...Read more Would rely on well proven and reliable system - efficacy of ADDs is unknown in these environments and unknown if deterrent systems will help reduce risk. Expensive to implement. Questions around the effects of ADDs (e.g., added noise) on sensitive species. Detection systems are currently insufficient to detect animals (in particular at array scale). Further research around ADDs which deter specific groups or species, is underway. This could be useful in deterring specific sensitive species or species groups, at a particular site. For example, University of St Andrews is developing an ADD which deter seals, but which don't effect cetaceans. Read less	Harrison et al. 2015, Orbital Marine Power 2010, Keenan et al. 2011, Aquamarine Power Ltd 2011, THETIS Energy 2009, Churchill Barriers - Wave Overtopping and Tidal Flow Energy Capture, Pelamis Wave Power P2 Demonstration at EMEC, Strangford Lough - MCT (SeaGen), Oyster 800 at EMEC, Torr Head Project
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Entrapment Potential risk of entrapment within device chambers and mooring arrays.	Marine Mammals	Mitigation Release entrapped animal.	None identified	Animal may be deceased before they are able to be released.	Tidal Lagoon Power 2017, Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon (SBTL)
Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Changes in water flow The potential wider or secondary effects on protected or sensitive sub-littoral seabed due to removal or alteration of energy flow arising from devices and moorings or support structures.	Reptiles	Design feature Site selection.	Minimizes significance of interaction.	None identified	ScottishPower Renewables 2012, Fox 2019, Ness of Duncansby Tidal Array
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Changes in sediment dynamics The potential wider or secondary effects (siltation changes or smothering) on protected or sensitive sub-littoral seabed due to scour or siltation around devices and associated moorings, support structures and export cables.	Benthic	Monitoring Modelling to predict the interaction between changes in sediment dynamics and animals.	Reduces scientific uncertainty so appropriate management measures can be employed.	Limited management measures available to minimize interaction despite modelling to fully predict interaction.	Foubister 2005, MeyGen 2012, Project Management Support Services 2006, GlaxoSmithKlineMontrose 2012, Fox 2019, Orbital Marine Power SR250 at EMEC, MeyGen Tidal Energy Project, Anglesey Skerries Tidal Stream Array, GSK Montrose Tidal Array
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Habitat Creation The introduction of infrastructure and artificial substrates will provide habitat and artificial refuges.	Benthic	Monitoring Monitor near-field behaviors.	Reduces scientific uncertainty around collision risk, displacement, and other impacts. Increased value/ fecundity of commercially important species. Informs understanding of potential positive impacts from colonization and use of project infrastructure.	This type of monitoring can be expensive and difficult to deliver in practice. May require additional licensing (e.g. echosounders).	Foubister 2005, Magallanes Renovables 2020, Orbital Marine Power 2018, EMEC Fall of Warness Grid-Connected Tidal Test Site, Magallanes Renovables ATIR at EMEC, Orbital Marine Power O2 at EMEC
Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Collision risk Potential for collision with turbine blades.	Birds Diving birds	Mitigation Selective structural and blade coatings (e.g., colors to aide detection.	Unknown - it is possible that this will aid detection of subsea structures and help reduce risk.	This could result in 'attraction', increasing risk of collision Uncertainty around how animals use visual cues. Other sensory organs are often more important for fish & seals Use of such measures may be limited to conform with IALA standards	Xodus Group 2019, EMEC Billia Croo Grid-Connected Wave Test Site
Wave, Tidal	Installation	Marine Non-Native Species (MNNS) Potential for introduction of MNNS which can have an adverse impact on the native species at the site.	Birds	Design feature Avoid the introduction of hard bottom substrate into a soft bottom habitat.	Ensures the efficient recovery of species native to the surrounding habitat.	May have technical implications.
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Collision risk Potential risk of collision with device giving size and character of structure.	Fish	Design feature Device components (e.g., transformer and power conditioning equipment) are designed internally.	Reduces potential for collision with external moving parts.	None identified	The Marine Institute 2016, Galway Bay Test Site
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Entanglement Potential for marine animals to become entangled in lost fishing gear or other equipment trapped on infrastructure.	Fish Elasmobranch, large fish	Mitigation Fisheries management: Agreement with fishermen not to fish near to the device, warning of the dangers of losing equipment.	Reduces potential for entanglement of fishing gear in mooring lines and thus potential for entanglement of marine animals.	None identified	Xodus Group 2019, EMEC Billia Croo Grid-Connected Wave Test Site
Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Changes in water flow The potential wider or secondary effects on protected or sensitive sub-littoral seabed due to removal or alteration of energy flow arising from devices and moorings or support structures.	Habitat	Monitoring Installation of ADCPs and turbulence sensors to better understand the baseline tidal flow conditions and hence the change in tidal flow due to presence of the device(s).	Reduce scientific uncertainty.	None identified	Tidal Energy Ltd 2008, Aquatera 2017, Fox 2019, Ramsey Sound, Tocardo InToTidal at EMEC
Wave, Tidal	Installation, Operation & Maintenance, Decommissioning	Marine Non-Native Species (MNNS) Potential for introduction of MNNS which can have an adverse impact on the native species at the site.	Habitat	Mitigation, Compliance Adhere to appropriate measures when jettisoning ballast water.	Reduce/remove risk of transfer of non-native species.	None identified	Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) 2011, Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site (AMETS)
Wave, Tidal	Installation, Operation & Maintenance, Decommissioning	Contamination Potential for accidental or unplanned events which could lead to contamination of the marine environment.	Marine Mammals	Mitigation Material selection - lubricants, coolants, hydraulic fluids etc. - selected with low ecotoxicity levels and biodegradable.	Reduces/removes risk of contamination/pollution from materials which may have escaped structure.	Use of lower toxicity materials may compromise performance, or impact other technical issues (e.g., fluid changes.)	Foubister 2005, MeyGen 2012, Xodus AURORA 2010, The Marine Institute 2016, THETIS Energy 2009, EMEC Fall of Warness Grid-Connected Tidal Test Site, MeyGen Tidal Energy Project, Galway Bay Test Site, Torr Head Project
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Underwater noise The potential effects from underwater noise generated by wave and tidal energy converters.	Marine Mammals	Monitoring Measure noise generated by device(s) during operation to better understand the potential effects on sensitive species.	Measured noise levels can be correlated with threshold values of relevant species and baseline noise levels of the site to determine impact and need for adaptive management measures.	Can be complex and costly to undertake this type of monitoring in high energy environments. Data and analysis have requirement for acoustic experts.	SAE Renewables 2011, Aquamarine Power Ltd 2011, Orbital Marine Power 2014, Minesto 2016, Xodus AURORA 2010, European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) 2019, ScottishPower Renewables 2010, Davison and Mallows 2005, McGrath 2013, Royal Haskoning 2012, Orbital Marine Power 2018, Atlantis Resources Corporation at EMEC, Oyster 800 at EMEC, Minesto Holyhead Deep - Non-grid connected DG500, HS1000 at EMEC, EMEC Billia Croo Grid-Connected Wave Test Site, Sound of Islay Demonstration Tidal Array, Strangford Lough - MCT (SeaGen), Fair Head Tidal Array, Oyster 800 at EMEC, Orbital Marine Power O2 at EMEC
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Entanglement Potential for marine animals to become entangled in device mooring lines and cables.	Reptiles Sea turtles	Design feature, Monitoring Routine inspections of mooring lines. Implement features into existing control systems to detect entanglement events.	Remove/reduce risk of entanglement. Likely to be required as part of the technical monitoring of the device and therefore not an additional cost.	Could be a costly measure for technology developers if not required as part of technical monitoring of device.
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Contamination Potential for oil/hydraulic spill incident resulting from the maintenance activities.	Benthic	Mitigation All maintenance activities involving oil/hydraulic fluid treatments will be carried out on-shore.	Reduces the chance of oil spill to the environment.	None identified	Foubister 2005, EMEC Fall of Warness Grid-Connected Tidal Test Site
Wave, Tidal	Installation	Marine Non-Native Species (MNNS) Potential for introduction of MNNS which can have an adverse impact on the native species at the site.	Benthic	Design feature Avoid the introduction of hard bottom substrate into a soft bottom habitat.	Ensures the efficient recovery of species native to the surrounding habitat.	May have technical implications.	Minesto 2016, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 2020, Minesto Holyhead Deep - Non-grid connected DG500, PacWave South Test Site
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Displacement Potential displacement of essential activities due to the presence of devices and associated moorings/support structures.	Birds	Design feature Site selection (taking into account cumulative impact of other developments).	Minimizes risk of development causing displacement by avoiding migratory routes or other important sites.	None identified	Argyll Tidal Limited 2013, Orbital Marine Power 2014, ScottishPower Renewables 2012, Fox 2019, Argyll Tidal Demonstrator Project, Ness of Duncansby Tidal Array
Wave, Tidal	Installation, Operation & Maintenance, Decommissioning	Barrier to movement Potential barrier to movement due to the physical presence of devices and associated moorings/support structures, cables and electrical equipment.	Fish	Mitigation Adherence to vessel management plan.	Minimizes the potential interaction between animals and construction or maintenance vessels.	None identified	OpenHydro and SSE Renewables 2013, Aquatera 2017, ScottishPower Renewables 2010, Xodus Group 2019, Fox 2019, Tocardo InToTidal at EMEC, Sound of Islay Demonstration Tidal Array
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	EMF Impacts of electromagnetic fields from landfall cables on sensitive species.	Fish Demersal fish	Design feature Use of 3-phase cables instead of DC cables.	None identified	None identified	Tidal Energy Ltd 2008, Ramsey Sound
Wave, Tidal	Installation, Operation & Maintenance, Decommissioning	Marine Non-Native Species (MNNS) Potential for introduction of MNNS which can have an adverse impact on the native species at the site.	Fish	Compliance Compliance with all relevant guidance (including IMO guidelines) regarding ballast water management and transfer of non-native species.	Reduce/remove risk of transfer and settlement of non-native species.	None identified	McPherson 2015, MeyGen 2012, Royal Haskoning and Sea Generation (Kyle Rhea) Ltd. 2013, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 2020, Nova Innovation - Shetland Tidal Array, MeyGen Tidal Energy Project, Kyle Rhea Tidal Stream Array Project, PacWave South Test Site
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Displacement Potential displacement of essential activities due to the presence of devices and associated moorings/support structures.	Habitat	Design feature Site selection (taking into account cumulative impact of other developments).	Minimizes s risk of development causing displacement by avoiding migratory routes or other important sites.	None identified	Minesto 2016, SSE Renewables 2011, Aquatera 2011, Fox 2019, Minesto Holyhead Deep - Non-grid connected DG500, Westray South Tidal Project, Farr Point Wave Array - Phase 1
Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Changes in water flow The potential wider or secondary effects on protected or sensitive sub-littoral seabed due to removal or alteration of energy flow arising from devices and moorings or support structures.	Marine Mammals	Monitoring Installation of ADCPs and turbulence sensors to better understand the baseline tidal flow conditions and hence the change in tidal flow due to presence of the device(s)	Reduces scientific uncertainty.	None identified	Tidal Energy Ltd 2008, Aquatera 2017, Fox 2019, Ramsey Sound, Tocardo InToTidal at EMEC
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	EMF Impacts of electromagnetic fields from landfall cables on sensitive species.	Marine Mammals	Design feature Bury cables where possible and viable.	None identified	None identified	McGrath 2013, Fair Head Tidal Array
Wave, Tidal	Decommissioning	Vessel disturbance Potential for disturbance from project vessels.	Marine Mammals Cetaceans, seals	Mitigation Avoid sudden changes of speed.	Reduces likelihood of any further disturbance to marine animals in the vicinity.	None identified	Orbital Marine Power 2018, Orbital Marine Power O2 at EMEC
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	EMF Impacts of electromagnetic fields from landfall cables on sensitive species.	Benthic Benthic invertebrates	Design feature Use of 3-phase cables instead of DC cables.	None identified	None identified	Tidal Energy Ltd 2008, Ramsey Sound
Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Changes in water flow Modifications to tidal flows affect prey distribution and abundance resulting in changes to foraging behavior.	Birds Diving birds	Monitoring Observational surveys (including remote sensing) of species (prey availability linked to benthic community).	Reduce scientific uncertainty.	Statistical power of studies can be low. Can be difficult to distinguish between natural variation and direct effects of energy removal from the system.	Aquamarine Power Ltd 2011, Craig 2008, Tidal Energy Ltd 2008, Xodus AURORA 2010, European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) 2014, Royal Haskoning and Sea Generation (Kyle Rhea) Ltd. 2013, SSE Renewables 2011, Xodus Group 2012, MeyGen 2012, Aquamarine Power Ltd 2011, ScottishPower Renewables 2012, Xodus Group 2012, Oyster 800 at EMEC, OpenHydro Alderney, Ramsey Sound, HS1000 at EMEC, EMEC Fall of Warness Grid-Connected Tidal Test Site, Kyle Rhea Tidal Stream Array Project, Westray South Tidal Project, Costa Head Wave Farm, MeyGen Tidal Energy Project, Pelamis Wave Power P2 Demonstration at EMEC
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Entrapment Potential risk of entrapment within device chambers and mooring arrays.	Birds	Mitigation Regular ROV/drop down camera surveys to establish occurrence of entrapment.	Early detection of entrapment.	Additional cost.	Foubister 2005, Orbital Marine Power 2010, McPherson 2015, Fox 2019, EMEC Fall of Warness Grid-Connected Tidal Test Site, Orbital Marine Power SR250 at EMEC, Nova Innovation - Canada Tidal Array
Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Changes in water flow Modifications to prey distribution and abundance (to include for other receptors) resulting in changes to foraging behaviour.	Fish	Monitoring Modelling to predict the interaction between changes in tidal flow, flux, and turbulence structure and animals.	Reduces scientific uncertainty so appropriate management measures can be employed.	Limited management measures available to minimize interaction despite modelling to fully predict interaction.
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	EMF Impacts of electromagnetic fields from subsea cables on sensitive species.	Fish Migratory fish	Design feature Bury or HDD cables where possible and viable.	Reduce the level of EMF to surrounding water column and therefore any potential effects. Reduces 'snagging risk' for vessels.	May have an impact on surrounding benthic habitats and sensitive species, e.g., from smothering Can be very challenging or impossible at sites where seabed tends to be rocky. Additional expense to the project. Reduced possibility for decommissioning.	Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) 2011, Tidal Lagoon Power 2017, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 2020, Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site (AMETS), Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon (SBTL), PacWave South Test Site
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Vessel disturbance Potential for disturbance from project vessels.	Fish Elasmobranch, large fish	Mitigation Use smaller vessels for maintenance purposes.	Reduces potential effects and is a relatively low cost measure.	None identified	Aquatera Ltd 2011, Laminaria 2018, Wello Penguin at EMEC, EMEC Billia Croo Grid-Connected Wave Test Site
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Habitat Creation The introduction of infrastructure and artificial substrates may generate additional habitat diversity.	Habitat Benthic species	Monitoring Structure colonization and biofouling surveys.	Informs understanding of potential for increased prey availability and ecological diversity.	Cost associated with monitoring.	Craig 2008, Fox 2019, OpenHydro Alderney
Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Collision risk Potential for collision with turbine blades.	Marine Mammals	Mitigation, Design feature Install acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs).	Could reduce likelihood of collision with moving blades. Simpler system than detect and deter.	Efficacy of ADDs in these environments is unknown. Expensive to implement and it is unknown if deterrent systems will help reduce risk. Questions around the effects of ADDs (e.g., added noise) on sensitive species and constant deterring means habituation is likely. ...Read more Efficacy of ADDs in these environments is unknown. Expensive to implement and it is unknown if deterrent systems will help reduce risk. Questions around the effects of ADDs (e.g., added noise) on sensitive species and constant deterring means habituation is likely. Detection systems are currently insufficient to detect animals (in particular at array scale). Read less	Tidal Lagoon Power 2017, THETIS Energy 2009, Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon (SBTL), Torr Head Project
Wave, Tidal	Operation & Maintenance	Entrapment Potential risk of entrapment within device chambers and mooring arrays.	Marine Mammals	Mitigation Regular ROV/drop down camera surveys to establish occurrence of entrapment	Early detection of entrapment .	Additional cost.	Foubister 2005, Orbital Marine Power 2010, McPherson 2015, Project Management Support Services 2006, Orbital Marine Power 2018, Fox 2019, EMEC Fall of Warness Grid-Connected Tidal Test Site, Orbital Marine Power SR250 at EMEC, Nova Innovation - Canada Tidal Array, Anglesey Skerries Tidal Stream Array, Orbital Marine Power O2 at EMEC
Wave, Tidal	Installation, Operation & Maintenance, Decommissioning	Contamination Potential for accidental or unplanned events which could lead to contamination of the marine environment.	Reptiles	Design feature Physical Containment systems including bulk heads, closed circuit systems, pressure relief systems.	Reduces risk of contamination/pollution escaping from structure.	None identified	Foubister 2005, MeyGen 2012, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) 2011, The Marine Institute 2016, EMEC Fall of Warness Grid-Connected Tidal Test Site, MeyGen Tidal Energy Project, Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site (AMETS), Galway Bay Test Site