Greenpeace boulders may delay building of £12bn windfarms in North Sea
Greenpeace activists dumped about 15 tonnes of boulders on to the seabed in the North Sea, potentially delaying the construction of the £12bn Norfolk Vanguard windfarms.
The barrier was created to safeguard harbour porpoises off the Norfolk coast by dropping giant stone blocks, each weighing up to 2 tonnes, on to the sea floor.
The placement of the boulders, which bear the signatures of celebrities like Simon Pegg and Benedict Cumberbatch, was timed to coincide with the premiere of the BBC’s Blue Planet III documentary.
The barrier poses an additional challenge for the green energy developers because most of the boulders were dropped on to the site earmarked for one of the UK’s biggest planned windfarms, known as the Norfolk Vanguard project.
Construction talks
The Guardian understands that the offshore wind developer, the German utility company RWE, is in talks with Greenpeace to verify the exact placement of the boulders so that they can update the seabed surveys they began last summer.
RWE is also investigating any potential impact to the construction of the project or its undersea cables.
A spokesperson for RWE described its communication with Greenpeace as “constructive” and said the company would “continue to investigate the precise implications” for the Norfolk Vanguard East project.
The boulders are likely to be removed within months after renewable energy developers agreed a £12bn deal alongside the UK government to begin building the offshore windfarm next year.
Campaigners' stance
Greenpeace began dumping boulders on to the site, 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 creation of the underwater barrier in one of “the most heavily trawled” areas of the southern North Sea was intended to provide an essential barrier to destructive bottom trawlers.
Will McCallum, the co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, said any suggestion that the boulders would cause a genuine obstacle was “absurd”.
He argued that energy companies routinely move naturally occurring boulders from the seabed before building windfarms and that Greenpeace has long championed offshore wind.
Related
