Call for ministers to reject proposed Berwick Bank wind farm site

The National Trust for Scotland has joined forces with other charities in a call for Scottish ministers to reject a renewables development that could wreak unacceptable levels of ecological damage – including to vulnerable seabird populations – off Scotland’s east coast.

Along with RSPB Scotland, Scottish Seabird Centre and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, we have set out our concerns about the siting of the proposed new Berwick Bank Offshore Wind Farm in a letter to Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work Minister, Gillian Martin MSP, as Scottish ministers prepare to make a final decision on SSE Renewables’ (SSE-R) application for Berwick Bank. Ministers will have the final say on whether the application is approved once they have received the Scottish Government Marine Directorate’s recommendation on the proposal, expected shortly.

The proposed wind farm, off St Abb’s Head National Nature Reserve (NNR) and Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, would be Scotland’s largest, with over 300 turbines covering an area over four times the size of Edinburgh.

While supportive in principle of the expansion of offshore wind generation to combat climate change, we have highlighted a number of worrying concerns about SSE-R’s plans to site the wind farm so close to internationally significant seabird colonies and Special Protection Areas. These include the developer’s approach to identifying Berwick Bank’s impact on seabird numbers, the lack of adequate steps to mitigate its impact, and the effectiveness of its proposed compensation measures.

New independent research for our charity, which cares for St Abb’s Head NNR and has a strategic objective to speak up for Scotland’s heritage, found that a significant majority of the public living in the local area have objections to a wind farm that can cause this level of harm to nature.

• 80% of respondents agreed that the proposed development should be re-sited offshore to a location where its impacts would be lessened, even if it is more costly for the developer.
• 84% agreed that protecting the natural environment is vital to the local and national economy.
• 66% did not believe that significant damage to seabird colonies was a price worth paying to increase Scotland’s renewable energy capacity. Indeed, 82% of people agreed that avoiding impacts on Special Protection Areas was important.

Dr Cal Major, ocean and nature advocate, and an ambassador for the National Trust for Scotland, commented: ‘I strongly back this call for Scottish ministers to reject the current Berwick Bank proposal and for SSE-R to re-site the wind farm to a less ecologically damaging location.

‘Our conservation charity supports the expansion of offshore wind farms, which are a vital component of Scotland’s journey to net zero. However, they must be sited in the right places for nature. This location – off St Abb’s Head with its precious seabird colonies – is clearly not the right site.’

Cal continued: ‘One element that especially concerns us is Berwick Bank’s likely impact on seabirds, with predicted mortality rates much higher than other offshore windfarms. For example, seven times as many kittiwakes will be removed from the population, per GW of energy produced, than at Hornsea Three where predicted impacts are already considered to be high. It’s surely unacceptable to create this additional threat to colonies, when seabirds such as puffins, kittiwakes, gannets and razorbills are already under huge pressure from climate change, dwindling food supplies and avian flu. Re-siting Berwick Bank gives them at least some chance of recovery.’