In the construction permit for Nysted Offshore Wind Park it was requested to implement a comprehensive environmental monitoring programme to include monitoring of the environmental conditions before, during and after the construction of the offshore wind park. This resulted in the ”Environmental monitoring programme under the Demonstration programme for offshore wind turbines”.

At Nysted, environmental studies have been carried out from 1999 to 2006, and the studied environmental conditions are comprehensive:

Bottom fauna and flora: Bottom fauna and flora studies focussing on the introduction of new habitats in the form of wind turbine foundations and rock protection around the foundations.

Fish: Studies of fish prevalence around the wind turbines and the rock protection as well as the impact of electromagnetic fields on fish.

Sea mammals: Studies of the behaviour of porpoises and seals in and around the offshore wind park.

Birds: Studies of resting, foraging and migrating birds, including estimation and monitoring of collisions with the wind turbines.

Attitudes: Sociological and eco-economic studies of the population’s attitude towards the wind turbines.

Coast morphology and hydrology: Study of the development of the Rødsand barrier and possible impact from the wind turbines.

Administration of the environmental programme

Planning and administration of the environmental programme at Nysted Offshore Wind Park and at Horns Rev Offshore Wind Park was conducted by the Environmental Group consisting of the Danish National Forest and Nature Agency, the Danish Energy Agency, Vattenfall and DONG Energy.

Further, the results of the environmental monitoring were continuously monitored by an international expert panel of leading marine ecologists (The International Advisory Panel of Experts on Marine Ecology – IAPEME) with special skills in the different parts of the programme. Every year, these experts have evaluated the results of the programme and made recommendations for the further work.

Additionally, the Environmental Group has continuously been in contact with a “Green Focus Group” consisting of representatives from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Danish Society for the Conservation of Nature, the Danish Outdoor Council, Greenpeace, the Danish Ornithological Society and the Organisation for Sustainable Energy.

Results and reports

The study has generated many interesting results and has helped develop methods to study marine environmental conditions around wind parks.

The results are presented in a number of scientific reports and in the book ”Danish Offshore Wind, Key Environmental Issues” which summaries the key results from the two parks.

Reports from Nysted Offshore Wind Park are available at this page, and all reports prepared under the environmental monitoring programme as well as the above-mentioned book are available from www.ens.dk

The Environmental monitoring programme continues

The Danish Energy Agency has decided to continue the Environmental monitoring programme under the Demonstration programme for wind parks.

The purpose of extending the programme is to clarify any outstanding questions of relevance for the planning of the coming Danish offshore extension.

Prioritisation of the further studies will be based on the recommendations from the international expert panel (IAPEME), who monitored the programme until 2006. Further, the Danish programme will be coordinated with similar programmes in other countries to ensure the largest possible output with the means at our disposal.

The programme will still be administrated by the Environmental Group and is continued by the remaining means allocated for the original programme which amount to approx DKK 7 million.