Enough electricity to power two cities the size of London will be
unlocked through the Marine Recovery Fund to safeguard Britain's
marine biodiversity and energy security, the Government has
announced today (Wednesday 17 December).
The new Marine Recovery Fund enables offshore wind developers to
pay into a government‑operated funding pot delivering meaningful
environmental compensatory measures to restore and protect marine
habitats.
Britain's seas are home to remarkable life, from seabirds that
crowd its cliffs, to the dolphins, porpoises and shoals of fish
that inhabit its waters. The fund will help extend existing and
designate new Marine Protected Areas to safeguard the seabed.
Future measures it is expected to deliver include actions to
boost wildlife, such as controlling rats to support seabirds and
creating offshore artificial nests for kittiwakes.
The fund will unlock up to 19 GW of offshore wind in the
immediate term, providing the country with the homegrown energy
to deliver clean power by 2030 and protect households from
volatile fossil fuel markets.
Marine Minister said:
We're building the next generation of clean, homegrown power and
boosting marine life through the Marine Recovery Fund.
Offshore wind is pivotal to achieving Net Zero by 2050 and
driving growth as part of our Plan for Change. Driving nature
recovery and protecting the ecosystems that call Britain's seas
home is not a trade-off against clean energy, but a condition of
delivery.
This approach creates a win-win by unlocking clean power through
faster decisions and protecting our seas and extraordinary
wildlife.
Offshore wind forms the backbone of the government's plans to
deliver its clean power mission as part of its Plan for Change,
as well as driving growth by generating investment and reigniting
industrial heartlands with thousands of jobs.
RenewableUK's Head of Offshore Wind Celestia
Godbehere said:
As responsible developers, the offshore wind industry has been
working closely with our colleagues at Defra and nature
conservation organisations for many years to establish this
groundbreaking fund and we're very pleased to see this milestone
achieved.
The Marine Recovery Fund, paid for by offshore wind farm
developers, will enhance the protection of wildlife in our seas
by enabling more co-ordinated measures to be taken over much
wider areas of seabed, across multiple offshore wind projects
being developed by different companies.
This system will also provide greater certainty and clarity for
wind farm developers as we plan, build and operate projects
generating clean power in harmony with our rich marine
biodiversity.
Katie-jo Luxton, director of conservation at the
RSPB, said:
Efforts to tackle climate change, restore the degraded marine
environment and protect the wildlife that depends on it must go
hand-in-hand.
The Marine Recovery Fund will support this approach by delivering
large-scale measures to compensate for seabird loss caused by
offshore development, potentially through a mix of actions at sea
and on land that support seabirds where they feed and breed.
Seabirds are in crisis, with 62% of species in decline across the
UK. We urgently need new offshore wind to decarbonise our energy
system, but it adds to the pressure on marine wildlife through
the risk of collisions and by disrupting feeding behaviour.
To turn the tide for seabirds we need climate and nature
solutions to be delivered in tandem, and this new fund will have
a key role to play.
By pooling contributions from developers, the fund will allow
compensation measures for seabirds and other marine wildlife and
habitats to be delivered strategically and at greater scale,
driving nature recovery while speeding up the consenting process
for new wind farms.
It will mean faster decisions for developers, as pre-approved
environmental measures reduce lengthy case-by-case negotiations.
