Greenpeace boulders dropped on Norfolk Vanguard windfarm site
Greenpeace activists have placed about 15 tonnes of boulders on the seabed off the Norfolk coast, and most of them landed on the site earmarked for the Norfolk Vanguard offshore windfarms, which could add a complication for the developer ahead of construction.
The charity created what it calls a "boulder barrier" to protect harbour porpoises by blocking bottom trawling, a fishing method that drags gear across the sea floor. Each block weighs up to 2 tonnes. The area is described as one of the most heavily trawled in the southern North Sea.
Timing alongside the government investment
The boulders were dropped without consent from the marine authority, days before the prime minister told the Cop31 summit that the UK would invest £1bn of public money in the Vanguard West and Vanguard East windfarms. The investment is believed to be the biggest of its kind in UK history. Developers and the UK government have agreed a £12bn deal to start building the offshore windfarm next year.
Greenpeace is understood to have checked the seabed for cables, pipelines and shipwrecks, but was not aware of the plans for Vanguard East. Some boulders carry signatures from celebrities who have voiced marine conservation documentaries, and the campaign was timed to coincide with the premiere of the BBC's Blue Planet III.
RWE assessing the impact
The German utility RWE, the offshore wind developer, is in talks with Greenpeace to verify exactly where the boulders were placed so it can update seabed surveys begun last summer. It is also looking at any possible effect on construction and on the project's undersea cables.
An RWE spokesperson described communication with Greenpeace as "constructive" and said the company would "continue to investigate the precise implications" for Norfolk Vanguard East.
Will McCallum, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, called any suggestion of a genuine obstacle "absurd". He said energy companies routinely move naturally occurring boulders before building windfarms, and that some are 10 times heavier than those Greenpeace placed.
The boulders are likely to be removed within months as construction approaches. Industrial fishing, including bottom trawling, is also expected to move away from the construction area.
Source: Guardian Energy industry · Image: Pixabay