Windy lessons from Norwegian eagles

Energy companies are used to dealing with many challenges, including securing funding, government support, planning permission and design approval before a power plant is built. Even then, technological challenges, local protests and - especially for weather-dependent renewable energy - climatic conditions can block its smooth functioning.

But Norwegian power producer Statkraft blew into a whole new kind of problem when it opened a 48-turbine, 110 megawatt extension to its wind farm in the municipality of Smøla, in northern Norway, two years ago.

With 68 turbines, Smøla is Europe’s largest land-based wind farm, meeting the average electricity needs of more than 20,000 households. But sea eagles are unconvinced by the energy potential or green credentials of the tall, white turbines. In their first year of operation, nine sea eagles were killed, apparently trying to fight the four-metre long turbine blades, which can spin at up to 250 kilometres per hour.

The Norwegian experience has lessons for EU member states. With some of the best onshore wind power potential in Europe, Scotland could be well placed to help the EU meet its target of using 20% renewable energy by 2020. Is has also, over the last 30 years, been host to the successful reintroduction of sea eagles.

Most recently, engineering company AMEC and British Energy have applied for clearance to build a 176-turbine wind farm on the Isle of Lewis off north Scotland. The application has faced thousands of objections from residents and environmentalists, who say the farm could have a "catastrophic" impact on local wildlife.

Plans to build wind farms on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria have run into similar protests, this time to protect the migratory white stork. Wind farm developments in Denmark, currently the country with the world’s largest wind power production capacity, led to complaints from residents that they could not sell houses close to a turbine.

The third largest offshore windfarm in Europe has also been dogged by complaints from a local municipality over the visual impact of 48 turbines. The Lillgrund wind farm, off the south coast of Sweden and operated by Swedish power company Vattenfall, is to go into operation before Christmas. Vattenfall estimates it will be able to provide electricity to around 60,000 households.

Vattenfall has spent ten years winning approval for the farm, says Ingegerd Bills, of Vattenfall. "Everyone knows that something has to be done to speed up this process," she says, pointing to neighbouring Denmark as a country where impact assessments can be carried out much more efficiently.

Konstantin Kreiser of environmental group BirdLife says that it did not have to be this way. "The key thing for wind energy is strategic planning, to avoid conflicts on the ground later on," he says. Ideally, Kreiser says, this should be a requirement in the EU renewables directive, to be presented in December. "We are very much in favour of the development of renewables, including wind power," he says, "but we are worried that environmental impact assessments are not always thoroughly undertaken."

For BirdLife the key issue is avoiding construction on migratory bird routes, which BirdLife says should mean careful mapping of vulnerable areas. But Kreiser says that the same strategic mapping should be applied to other issues, including social problems or assessing where the strongest wind can be found.

Airtricity, a Dublin-based wind power company with offices in Germany, the UK, Canada, China and the US, says that it carries out a thorough environmental impact assessment for every planned wind farm. This includes looking into the impact on wildlife and local communities, as well as "visually important areas and scenic routes".

Eddie O’Connor, Airtricity CEO and founder, says he started the company in 1999 for environmental reasons, even before climate change became daily headline news. "Back in the early 1990s I became convinced that global warming was a problem and that it was down to human activity," he said. "That was difficult for me, because at the time I was working for peat manufacturers - one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions in the world."

O’Connor was also convinced at this early date that wind energy was commercial. He says that events since Airtricity was founded have proved him right.

"I do not believe there will be any electricity from fossil fuels after 2030, meaning that the thing we built the industrial world on is no longer adequate," he says.

O’Connor praises Germany and the UK in particular for "embracing off-shore wind". Airtricity already has two operating wind farms in Scotland, and in June this year it won control of the financing, construction and operation of the Butendiek offshore wind farm in Germany.

But Airtricity’s main concerns remain in Ireland, where it has ten onshore wind farms. It shares operation of Ireland’s first offshore farm with GE.

Ireland’s renewable energy consumption remains low, at less than 3%, but O’Connor believes that wind farms could take that up to 10%.

Energy companies are used to dealing with many challenges, including securing funding, government support, planning permission and design approval before a power plant is built. Even then, technological challenges, local protests and - especially for weather-dependent renewable energy - climatic conditions can block its smooth functioning.