Conservation charities have criticised The Scottish Government’s decision to grant consent for an offshore wind farm that they say could threaten some of the nation’s globally important seabird colonies.
RSPB Scotland has described the decision to grant consent for SSE Renewables’ proposed Berwick Bank wind farm in the outer Firth of Forth as “catastrophic” and warned it could “catapult some species towards extinction”.
Scotland’s largest conservation charity, The National Trust for Scotland, said the decision was “deeply disappointing” and would “further erode Scotland’s reputation as a nation that cares for its environment”.
The charities had called for the plans to be refused, predicting that the development, close to known established colonies like the Bass Rock and St Abb’s Head, will over its lifetime kill tens of thousands of seabirds including kittiwakes, puffins and gannets.
Although Scottish Ministers require the developers to demonstrate that “sufficient seabird compensation” will be put in place before the project can start, conservationists said it was “not clear how the thousands of seabirds predicted to be killed can be compensated for”.
Anne McCall, Director of RSPB Scotland, said: “This is a very dark day for seabirds. It is a terrible decision on a really bad development.
“Berwick Bank would be catastrophic for Scotland’s globally important seabirds which are already facing alarming declines.
“In addition, its impacts are so damaging they will make the relative impacts of other wind farms significantly higher.
“This one wind farm is going to make it really challenging to accelerate renewable projects across Scottish seas.
“We are incredibly concerned that Scottish Government have granted consent for a project which could catapult some of Scotland’s most-loved seabird species towards extinction.
“RSPB Scotland recognises climate change is one of the biggest threats to seabirds, but there needs to be seabirds left to save.
“We support nature-positive offshore wind, in the right locations with minimised impacts on wildlife and measures to restore and protect seabird populations.
“But this is predicted to be one of the most damaging wind farms for birds we are aware of anywhere on the planet.”
Berwick Bank is a proposal by SSE Renewables of more than 300 turbines covering 1000 square kilometres, off the East Lothian and Scottish Borders coastline.
It is anticipated to generate 4.1 gigawatts (GW) of energy, which could generate enough electricity each year to power every household in Scotland around twice over, using turbines stretching 355 metres high to the blade tip.
The Scottish Government’s own assessment estimates that the project will kill 261 gannets, 815 kittiwakes, 2808 guillemots, 66 puffins and 154 razorbills in the first year of operation, with this level of mortality continuing throughout the 35-year lifetime of the development.
McCall added: “We will be carefully scrutinising the details of the consent documents over the coming hours and days and considering what further steps we will take.”
Scotland is home to internationally important seabird populations, including 60% of great skuas and almost half (48%) of the world’s Northern gannets, with one of the biggest colonies on Earth found at the Bass Rock.
Research has shown that 70% of seabird species in Scotland are in decline, even before the significant impact of avian flu (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza or HPAI).
Last year, five more UK seabirds were added to the UK Red list of most conservation concern, meaning they are at risk of extinction or require urgent conservation action. Scotland has more than 50% of the UK population of each of these five species.
RSPB Scotland said that since the Berwick Bank site was first identified around 15 years ago numerous other projects had come forward, most of which were “much less damaging to seabirds”.
Diarmid Hearns, the National Trust for Scotland’s Interim Director of Conservation & Policy, said: “Today’s decision by Scottish Ministers is deeply disappointing. More than that, we fear it will also be the cause of significant harm to the seabird colonies of St Abb’s Head National Nature Reserve and elsewhere on the coastline.
“As we observed in our submission, the proposed mitigations by the developers fell far short of alleviating the expected impacts in terms of fatalities and disruption. Indeed, the Scottish Government’s own Chief Scientific Advisor Marine and a review panel drawn from the Scottish Science Advisory Council came to the same conclusion.
“We look forward to hearing more about the detailed seabird compensation plan that is a condition of the approval, as soon as this is available. If this is not adequate — and it needs to be a major improvement on what is currently proposed — then the development should not proceed.
“At the National Trust for Scotland we are supportive of the drive towards renewable energy, but not at the expense of the very nature and habitats this effort is supposed to help save in the face of climate change…
“This is not a good decision for nature and further erodes Scotland’s reputation as a nation that cares for its environment and recognises its importance to our collective future.”
Harry Huyton, CEO of the marine conservation and education charity The Scottish Seabird Centre, said the decision was “devastating news for seabirds”.
He added: “The Scottish Seabird Centre and nature charities across Scotland have repeatedly called on the Scottish Government to refuse consent for Berwick Bank and to instead back lower impact wind farms.
“It’s deeply disappointing that these concerns — and the advice of the Government’s own adviser, NatureScot, who also objected to the development — appear to have been ignored.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes defended the decision, and said: “Ministers have given the Berwick Bank wind farm application extremely careful consideration.
“The decision to grant consent to Berwick Bank is a major step in Scotland’s progress towards achieving net zero and tackling the climate crisis, as well as supporting national energy security and growing our green economy.
“It is also an important decision for Scotland’s renewables sector, and this investment will be further built upon through the delivery of Scotland’s significant future pipeline of offshore wind projects under the ScotWind and the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing rounds.
“We will continue to work closely with the developer and key stakeholders, including those working in fishing and conservation — to minimise the impact of the development on the marine environment and other marine users – and balance the needs of people and nature.”
