Offshore windfarm projects may be exempted from new UK nature rules | Environment

Offshore wind farm companies could be exempted from Britain’s new nature rules in a bid to reduce the cost of renewable energy, the Guardian has learned.

Energy companies have said they will not be able to build the large number of turbines needed to meet the government’s green electricity targets if they have to comply with new rules for nationally significant infrastructure projects (Nsips).

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is trying to find ways to reduce the cost of building offshore wind projects to avoid rising energy bills, according to sources in his department. Inflation and labor and material costs make projects expensive to build, while the grid upgrade needed to transport the additional electricity also increases costs.

Under new planning rules from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) due to be adopted in May, all projects such as nuclear power stations, airports and road projects will have to highlight nature when new projects are built or existing infrastructure is extended.

As part of the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirement, they will need to create 10% more nature than there was before the project started, whether by planting trees or wildflower meadows or creating wetlands. Additions need not be located in the same location as the development.

The rules were supposed to be published last week after a consultation, but the announcement was delayed after a last-minute loophole was added for offshore wind farms to exempt them from the BNG rules, according to sources. The wind turbines will not have to compensate for destroyed habitat in the shallow intertidal waters in which they are built, which include prime feeding grounds for seabirds such as puffins, where the fish they feed on spawn.

A government spokesperson said the wind projects would feed into a marine recovery fund to offset some of the damage they cause to the natural environment.

“We are consulting on how we will apply the BNG to nationally significant infrastructure projects to provide consistent regulations for developers,” they said. “No decision has yet been made. We are currently analyzing the responses to the consultation and will publish a government response in due course.”

In a submission to the consultation, industry group RenewableUK said: “It is essential that mandatory BNG does not create an imbalance of priorities, discouraging the development of renewable energy projects that contribute to climate change mitigation” and that there were concerns it could add “disproportionate costs or legislative challenges to the development of energy infrastructure renewable”.

The Guardian recently revealed that the government’s 2030 clean energy target may not be met if it becomes too costly. Miliband is set to launch auctions to buy renewable energy and will set a guaranteed price that will be paid to energy companies per megawatt hour. If auctions secure a large amount of energy at high prices in the long term, Miliband’s promise to cut energy bills by £300 this Parliament could be in jeopardy.

Wind farms can harm birds and marine mammals in the shallow waters and intertidal areas where they are found. The Berwick Bank wind farm in Scotland, for example, is expected to kill 2,808 murres, 814 kittiwakes, 260 gannets, 154 razorbills and 65 puffins in its first year of operation, according to a Scottish Government analysis. The number of birds killed by turbines, however, is tiny compared to those killed by house cats and those killed by power lines.

The plan to exclude offshore wind farms from BNG rules also comes as the government refuses to ban destructive bottom trawling in marine protected areas.

Wildlife and Countryside Link chief executive Richard Benwell said: “Abandoning marine net gain would be a short-sighted decision that strikes the wrong trade-off between nature protection and climate action. We need to accelerate the delivery of renewable energy, but this must not come at the expense of puffins, destroyed oyster beds and prevented dolphins from find food. “

“Industry data shows that environmental assessments represent only a tiny fraction of the cost of developing offshore wind farms. We must restore our oceans and produce offshore wind power, not pursue false quick fixes based on rolling back protections for nature.”

Wind farms will continue to provide some mitigation for nature in sensitive sites, such as ‘hotels’ for seabirds, including kittiwakes, in Suffolk. These are man-made structures designed to mimic cliffs and provide additional habitat for birds to nest.

Government sources say that increasing the cost of electricity by applying concepts such as BNG will lead to increased gas consumption, and that the biggest threat to biodiversity globally is climate change.