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Partnering with WREN, questionnaires are sent to offshore wind energy developers around the world who are involved in environmental monitoring. This page provides contextual project information and highlights environmental monitoring, providing links to available data and reports. Content is updated annually.

Scroby Sands Wind Farm

Scroby Sands Wind Farm

Contents

Wind Project Site

Title: Scroby Sands Wind Farm
Status:
Operating
Project Manager:
RWE Renewables (RWE)
Turbine Developer:
Vestas Wind Systems A/S
Construction Start:
Operation Start:
Info Last Updated:
Contact:
Kinson Ma
(login for email address)
Website:
External Link

Details

Technology:
Fixed Offshore Wind
Project Scale:
Commercial Farm
Turbine Model:
V80-2MW
Hub Height:
60m
Rotor Diameter:
80 m
Number of Turbines:
30
Capacity per Turbine:
2 MW
Installed Capacity:
60 MW
Support Structure:
Monopile
Export Cables:
AC
Export Cable Voltage:
33 kV
Number of Export Cables:
3
Cable Landfall:
Trenched
Physical Site:
Shallow Water (<60m), Marine, Soft-Bottom Habitat
Water Depth:
3 - 12 m
Distance from Shore:
2.5 km
Country:
United Kingdom

Description

Scroby Sands Wind Farm, originally developed by E.ON UK and now operated by RWE, is one of the UK’s first commercial offshore wind farms. Scroby Sands occupies an area of 10 square kilometers and consists of 30 Vestas turbines with a capacity of 60 MW that can produce power to supply over 48,000 UK households.

Scroby Sands was built on a prehistoric sandbank which, because of natural changes in the marine environment and coastal erosion, has risen over time and effectively isolated four turbines from being accessed by service vessels. As a result, RWE, in partnership with Commercial Rib Charters (CRC), designed and built a world-first amphibious vessel for reaching offshore wind farms in shallow waters (named CRC Walrus).

Location

The Scroby Sands Wind Farm is located on the Scroby Sands sandbank in the North Sea. It is 2.5 km off the coast of Great Yarmouth on the east coast of Anglia.

The cables were brought ashore in Great Yarmouth, North Denes and connected to the local grid network system in Great Yarmouth, Admiralty Road substation.

Project Timeline

  • March 2005: Farm Formally Opened
  • December 2004: Commercial Completion
  • December 2004: All Turbines Online Together
  • November 2004: Reliability Testing Completed
  • October 2004: Completion of All Turbines
  • May 2004: Inter-Array Cabling
  • July 2004: Production of the First Turbine
  • April 2004: Onshore Cable Installation
  • November 2003: Foundation Installation
  • February 2003: Project Awarded
  • February 2003: Second Invitation to Tender and Evaluation of Bids
  • June 2002: First Invitation to Tender and Evaluation of Bids
  • 1995: Anemometry Mast Installed
  • 1993 – 1994: Site Assessment

Licensing Information

  • 5 September 2003: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued Seabed Lease Licence No 31271/02/0 (September 5, 2003 until March 31, 2005)
  • 17 April 2002: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued Seabed Lease Licence No 31271/02/0 (April 1, 2003 until March 31, 2005)

Key Environmental Issues

Scroby Sands identified major areas associated with seal haul-out, so offshore construction commenced in the spring with the foundation installation to the south of the site and progressed to the north, avoiding proximity to the seal haul-out area during any pupping periods. Turbine installation took place from the north to the south, thus minimizing effects on seals later in the year during moulting.

Environmental Papers and Reports

Additional Scroby Sands data can be found on the Marine Data Exchange. 

Environmental Monitoring: Scroby Sands Wind Farm

ID Phase Stressor & Receptor Design and Methods Results Publications Data
2080201 Baseline Birds Bird survey 
Little Terns were tagged at Winterton in 2003 and at Winterton and North Denes in 2004, and tracked.  		Complete 
Twelve birds were fitted with back-mounted tags with no apparent adverse impacts upon normal behavior and nesting success. The timing and recruitment of Little Terns appears closely tied in with the availability of Herring.  		Perrow et al. 2006 No data publicly available.
2080202 Baseline, Construction, Operations Displacement

Fish 		Bird Counts and Tagging/Telemetry and Prey Tow net sampling 
The study was conducted over a five-year period, with two years of baseline sampling prior to construction (2002 and 2003), one year during construction (2004), and two years after construction (2005 and 2006). A grid of 12 sampling stations was established across the Scroby Sands site. All prey sampling was conducted aboard an inshore workboat using a custom-built larval tow net. Little Tern bird count surveys were undertaken from May until August of 2004. Capture of adult Little Terns was conducted for attachment of radio tags. 		Complete 
Multivariate modelling indicated a significant reduction in herring (primary diet of Little Tern chicks) abundance from 2004 onward that could not be explained by environmental factors. Reduced prey abundance corresponded with a significant decline in Little tern foraging success. In 2004, 150 nests were laid at Winterton compared to 40 at North Denes. Perhaps as a results of the lack of fish prey, increased use of Scroby Sands themselves was recorded in 2004. 		Perrow et al. 2011, Perrow et al. 2005, ECON Ecological Consultancy 2008 No data publicly available.
2080199 Baseline, Construction, Operations Marine Mammals Aerial Survey Analysis 
Aerial surveys were undertaken on an approximately fortnightly basis throughout the summer of 2003 using a digital camera. The 2005 monitoring took place in the form of aerial surveys conducted at approximately fortnightly intervals throughout the summer months. 		Complete 
There was no statistically significant difference between the number of seals hauled out on Scroby in 2002 and 2003. Significantly fewer Common seals were observed in 2004 than in 2002. Statistically significant changes in the numbers of both seal species and thus species composition were observed during the monitoring program. The decline in numbers of Harbour seals hauled out and consequently breeding colony productivity coincided with the construction of the wind farm. 		Skeate and Perrow 2005, Perrow and Skeate 2004, Skeate and Perrow 2008

2008, ECON, Scroby Sands Offshore Wind Farm, Seal Monitoring, Analysis of the 2006 post-construction aerial surveys and summary of the monitoring programme results from 2002-2006
2080200 Baseline, Construction, Operations Displacement

Marine Mammals 		Aerial surveys 
Aerial photographic surveys of the principal Scroby Sands sandbar were conducted approximately every two weeks between April and September before construction (2002 and 2003), during construction (2004), and after construction (2005 and 2006). From 2004 onwards, additional surveys were conducted during the peak harhour seal pupping period in July to better assess breeding productivity. 		Complete 
A significant decline in the haul-out count of harbour seals at Scroby during 2004 corresponds exactly with wind farm construction. This study provided strong circumstantial evidence of the likely effect of piling noise and vessel activity affecting harbour seals at haul-out and breeding site that extended into the medium term of several years. 		Skeate et al. 2012 No data publicly available.
2080198 Baseline, Construction, Operations Physical Environment Benthic/Coastal Process Surveys 
A research and monitoring program was undertaken at the Scroby Sands offshore wind farm to observe, measure, and quantify potential impacts of the wind farm on coastal processes. This was achieved by a series of seabed surveys (side-scan sonar, swathe bathymetry) and deployment of seabed landers before (April and May 2003), during (February 2004), and after construction (February and March 2005) of the offshore wind farm. 		Complete 
Results provided evidence of changes in seabed bathymetry, bedforms, currents, waves, and suspended sediment concentrations that may lead to disturbance of sedimentary environments or sediment transport pathways. 		Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) 2006 No data publicly available.
2080203 Operations Displacement

Birds 		Boat-based surveys 
Eight boat-based surveys over a route of 46 km incorporating 10.3 km within the wind farm, utilising snapshots for flying terns every 250 m (n=185) were performed approximately every two weeks from early May to mid August 2013. 		Complete 
The likelihood of damage to the embryonic breeding population of Sandwich terns at Scroby Sands appeared to be very low. Any loss would make a further small contribution to the cumulative collision encountered by these populations from wind farms around the UK and along their migration route. 		Perrow et al. 2013 No data publicly available.