Microsoft Word Report 11 02 Wave Power final ex appendix doc

How to get knowledge? 
The potential impact of wave energy is in many cases generic e.g. studies 
carried out in one site may be used to judge impact on the marine 
environment in other sites. A cost-effective strategy to increase knowledge 
about environmental effects from wave power is collaboration in Joint 
Industry Monitoring Programmes (JIMP). Another opportunity is compilation of 
knowledge about environmental effects on marine organisms from other 
industrial offshore projects such as offshore wind, oil and gas and subsea 
cables where some of the environmental impact is expected to resemble the 
possible impact from wave energy installations. 
Environmental/accept
ance topics 
Example of Key concerns, based on the Scottish Strategic 
Environmental Assessment
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Marine birds 
Disturbance during installation 
Noise during installation and operation 
Risk of collision with devices during foraging 
Risks due to contamination of water 
Displacement 
Risk of increased mink predation 
Marine Mammals 
Disturbance during installation 
Noise during installation and operation 
Risk of collision with devices during feeding and migration 
Risks of accidental contamination of water 
Barriers to movement due to avoidance reactions 
Benthic ecology 
Increased suspended sediment from seabed disturbance 
during device installation and cable trenching 
Risk of smothering from seabed disturbance 
Accidental contamination from device failures and collisions 
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http://www.seaenergyscotland.net/public_docs/ER_NTS_FINAL_MAR07.pdf 

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Changes in tidal flow and wave regime due to device 
presence and operation 
Substratum loss, caused by attaching devices to the seabed 
Fish and shellfish 
Risk of smothering from seabed disturbance 
Noise during installation 
Risk of collision with devices 
Accidental contamination from device failures and collisions 
Habitat exclusion due to presence of devices 
Substratum loss, caused by attaching devices to the seabed 
Commercial fisheries 
Direct disturbance of fishing grounds during installation of 
devices attached to the seabed and during cable trenching 
Temporary and long-term displacement from traditional 
fishing grounds 
See key concerns for fish and shellfish above 
Shipping and 
navigation
Displaced/increased shipping density 
Reductions in the safety of navigation 
Risk of collision with installation vessels and equipment and 
operational devices 
Water quality 
Risk for accidental contamination, e.g. in case of collision 
Geology and energy 
extraction 
Changes in coastal processes due to energy extraction 
Electric and magnetic 
fields 
I
nterference with prey location and mate detection by 
marine species 
Barriers to migration for EMF-sensitive species 
4.9
Wave energy and environmental consent processes 
Issues relating to legislation, policies and acceptance are factors of great 
importance for the success of a wave energy development project. On the one 
hand, national energy policies and physical planning may promote the use of 
renewable energy, and therefore encourage the deployment. On the other 
hand protective environmental legislation, complicated and time consuming 
consent processes and other stakeholders’ interest in the use and protection 
of sea zones may limit the possibilities for wave energy development. 
The currently existing wave farms are mostly small and mainly intended for 
research and development. It must therefore be emphasised that the 
environmental legislation in most countries has not yet been applied or 
adapted to large scale commercial wave farms. 

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ELFORSK 
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