Business Green: Cecilia Keating   ‘Offshore Wind Evidence and Change Programme will run for five years and explore how the seabed can best be protected as the UK’s offshore wind boom continues.

The government and Crown Estate have announced they are to work together to protect the marine environment as offshore wind project construction booms in UK waters over the decades to come.

A five-year collaboration project launched this morning will fund research and data projects that can provide “essential insights” to the offshore wind sector to allow it to better understand the environmental impacts of its activities, the partners said.

The Crown Estate has committed £25m to the initiative, which it predicted would enable a “more coordinated and strategic approach” to the design and plotting of offshore energy infrastructure that is expected to expand rapidly over the coming decade. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are the project’s strategic partners.

Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbard emphasised the nation’s seabed would play a “crucial role” in the nation’s journey to net zero emissions, but warned development had to mindful of potential impacts on the environment and other industries. “I’m delighted to launch this new partnership which will help lay sustainable foundations for the next phase of the offshore wind success story, in a way which will help us to maintain healthy, biodiverse seas,” he said. “The partnership will be at the centre of how we ensure a more coordinated approach to delivering the infrastructure that will be required to tackle climate change.”

Among the initial projects to be explored by the Offshore Wind Evidence and Change Programme is a study to explore the grid connection challenges faced by offshore wind farms on England’s east coast and a study to develop spatial scenarios that boost understanding of offshore wind deployment, the Crown Estate said.

Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng stressed that protecting the environment was a key priority for the government as it worked towards it aim of delivering 40GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade. “Creating jobs and increasing capacity to 40GW by the end of this decade will be key to helping us reach our commitment for net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but safeguarding our precious marine environment remains a priority, which is why this partnership is so important,” he said.

Kwarteng’s commitment to environmental protection was echoed by his colleague, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow. “Renewable energy plays a key role in this and as we work to increase renewable sources of energy we must ensure that our precious marine environment is protected at the same time,” she said. “I am delighted that Defra is a part of this programme, providing expert advice relating to the growing calls on our marine space so that we can deliver offshore developments while protecting our unique marine resources.”

The initiative’s steering group will include devolved government bodies, regulators such as the Marine Management Organisation, campaign groups such as RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts, and industry group RenewableUK.  Click here to read more