TIDAL ENERGY

SMRU Consulting has a wide range of experience in providing expertise and services to the marine renewable energy industry with respect to marine mammals and basking sharks. We are uniquely placed to provide advice on the best available technologies and techniques for monitoring and mitigation, and have access to emergent technologies and bespoke solutions should they be required.

In addition to our commercial experience, our academic excellence and global profile in marine mammal biology and research will provide regulators, statutory advisers and other stakeholders with the confidence that any concerns relating to impacts on marine mammals will be dealt with robustly and appropriately. Our services have included expert marine mammal expert advice, technical review and monitoring services to a number of offshore wind, tidal and wave developments.

 Some example projects are summarised below:

  • Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay: We are working with TLSB on the development of their marine mammal monitoring and mitigation strategy. This includes a range of different activities from helping them agree their adaptive management strategy with regulators to development and feasibility work exploring technological solutions for implementing their strategy.

  • Tidal Energy Ltd Deltastream: We delivered a feasibility study to provide options for near field monitoring for marine mammals to meet the conditions of TEL’s Marine Licence, provide ongoing marine mammal monitoring advice and support to the developer and provide input into the Environmental Monitoring Committee.

  • FORCE Monitoring: SMRU Consulting North America partnered with Acadia University to collect baseline acoustic monitoring data and to determine the potential near-field effects of tidal in-stream energy conversion devices on odontocetes. The goals of this project were to determine the activity levels of porpoises and dolphins in the Minas Passage turbine demonstration area and to compare this activity to a control site.

  • Minesto collision risk model development & assessment: We delivered a unique collision risk assessment and used the “iPCoD” mode to determine the potential for marine mammals to collide with the Minesto device. Through SMRU Consulting Europe’s our rigorous review and assessment of Minesto MMO datasets, we were able to assist Minesto in their effort to run the device unmitigated 24/7 at their Strangford test-site and received consent for their Holyhead Deep site.

  • Scottish Government Demonstration Strategy: This study developed and tested innovative new technology for the detection and measurement of marine mammal behaviour around tidal turbines. The project has developed monitoring systems which are capable of the detection and tracking of seals, porpoises and dolphins underwater in 3D and is currently being deployed at the MeyGen array site in the Pentland Firth.

For more information on our experience in this sector, please see our blog and publications.