Report: Identifying knowledge gaps on the impacts of offshore renewable energy on biodiversity at sea.
Authors: Zoe Pearson, Kimberley Lloyd and Henk Van Ren of Howell Marine Consulting Ltd.; Jenny R Bortoluzzi of the Irish Environmental Network; Stephen Comerford of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group; and Rochelle Streker of Birdwatch Ireland.
Email: jenny@ien.ie
Introduction
Meeting Ireland’s energy target of 5GW of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) capacity by 2030, 20GW by 2040 and 37GW by 20501 – alongside achieving the designation of 30% of its marine area as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by 2030; and Good Environmental Status (GES) of its seas under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, is a key national challenge. In response, Ireland is undergoing a significant transformation in its approach to ORE planning and development.
Building blocks are in place to ensure that renewable energy development does not present additional and significant detrimental effects to the marine environment. The Project Ireland 2040 National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF) provides a foundation for decision-making that ensures ecologically sustainable growth and the restoration of biological diversity and ecosystems. In alignment with these goals, the Future Framework for ORE 2024 outlines that environmental considerations must remain central to long-term, plan-led development. This is reinforced by the establishment of Designated Maritime Area Plans (DMAPs), which will adopt an ecosystem-based management approach to future ORE projects, whilst maintaining a healthy and thriving ecosystem. Ireland issued Maritime Area Consents (MAC) for six offshore wind farm (OWF) projects in 2023, marking the planned expansion of Ireland’s ORE sector.
Alongside these measures, an important step towards achieving these goals is to ensure that the best scientific evidence and advice on the environmental and biodiversity effects of ORE, including fixed and floating offshore wind, wave and tidal renewable energy, is available to support decision-making, policy, planning and consenting. This is outlined in Ireland’s 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan 2023-2030, which sets a key objective of enhancing the evidence base for biodiversity. By 2028, environmental data relating to environmental assessments must be readily available to inform future projects.
To support this ambition, the Irish Environmental Network (IEN), the national umbrella group for environmental NGOs in Ireland, commissioned Howell Marine Consulting (HMC) to produce this evidence report. The purpose is to assess the current state of knowledge on the impacts of ORE on biodiversity at sea with a specific focus on Irish waters; to identify and prioritise critical evidence gaps; and to propose a strategic, cost-effective research framework that aligns research needs with energy delivery, biodiversity and climate goals.
