Orsted is relying on a plan to spend £15m ($20.3m) on artificial bird nests to finally secure a green light for the biggest project so far in its global offshore wind empire, the 2.4GW, up to £8bn Hornsea 3 off eastern England.

The global offshore wind market-leader has proposed building four nesting structures close to the North Sea coast to create breeding grounds for kittiwakes – a small grey, white and black bird whose “globally important” populations environmental groups claim are at risk of collision with the hundreds of giant turbines that would be deployed for Hornsea 3.

UK energy secretary Alok Sharma is due to give a final development consent verdict by 31 December on the project, which has been knocked back twice over fears of its impact on sea birds and was originally due a final decision as long ago as October 2019.

What to do about the kittiwakes has proved a particular challenge for Orsted, whose bird experts have examined other options including killing off their prey, and even establishing new colonies on decommissioned oil and gas platforms.

Sharma said in July that he was “minded” to finally approve Hornsea 3 if a better ‘compensation plan’ for the kittiwakes can be found.

Orsted said in a letter to the energy secretary that the artificial nests, split across two areas on the coastline, would deliver at least 73 breeding kittiwake adults a year, replacing the number of birds expected to die at the wind farm.

The offshore wind developer said although it has yet to acquire coastal sites for the nests, it is prepared if necessary to use compulsory purchase powers attached to Hornsea 3’s status as a major electricity generation project.

Orsted said it would set a £15m budget aside for the nests over the 30-year operational lifetime of Hornsea 3, which is estimated to have a total project cost of £5bn-£8bn.

The proposal received a lukewarm response from UK bird charity RSPB, which has been among the leaders in challenging Hornsea 3 and other major North Sea offshore wind projects over their environmental impacts.

The charity said in a response to Orsted’s latest proposals: “Whilst we appreciate the substantial additional information presented by the Applicant and the constructive discussions held, the RSPB considers there remain significant uncertainties with regards to the proposed compensation package, which remains experimental in nature.

“The number of further agreements, consents and permissions that will be required to deliver the proposed compensation measures post-consent remains profoundly worrying, as there is no certainty that those can be agreed or granted.”

Delays to consenting have emerged as a significant challenge in the way of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to make the UK ‘the Saudi Arabia of wind power’, underpinned by a quadrupling of operating offshore capacity to 40GW by 2030.

Orsted confirmed that it is still expecting a consent decision on Hornsea 3 by the end of the year, in a bid to add the project to its 1.2GW Hornsea 1, already up and running as the world's largest offshore wind farm, and the under-construction 1.4GW Hornsea 2.

Wind

The $20m bird nests: Orsted's plan to save its biggest offshore wind project