Danish experience over the past 17 years shows that offshore wind farms, if sited correctly, can be engineered and operated without significant damage to the marine environment and vulnerable species. A comprehensive environmental monitoring programme carried out at the Horns Rev (160 MW) and Nysted (165 MW) wind farms by the two developers, together with the Danish Energy Authority and the Forest and Nature Agency, has confirmed that, “under the right conditions, even big wind farms pose low risks to birds, mammals and fish…”

The monitoring showed that neither seals nor harbour porpoises, both of which are active in the area, have been forced to make any substantial changes to their behaviour. Fish and benthic communities have even been attracted to the foundations of the wind turbines after their construction, the latter using them as hatchery or nursery grounds.

Among the most common sea birds frequenting the area of the Nysted wind farm, surveys showed that among a total of 235,000 eider ducks passing by each autumn on migration, the predicted collision rate was just 0.02%. Radar plotting showed that flocks of migrating birds mostly flew round the outside of the block of 72 turbines.