Balancing Growth and Responsibility: A Review of Brazil's Offshore Wind Farm Regulation

Brazil's offshore wind energy potential assessment based on a Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

Law No. 15097/2025, enacted in December 2024, together with Decree No. 10946/2022, established the guidelines for offshore wind energy exploration in Brazil. This analysis purports to address certain legal challenges that may require regulatory refinement to foster offshore wind projects in Brazil, as well as potential solutions to bottlenecks that could unlock investments in this sector. From a Brazilian legal perspective, we review the main challenges and outstanding regulatory issues related to offshore wind energy exploration which are still pending regulation or may need further regulation, including without limitation (i) the integration of offshore wind power generation projects into the onshore grid; (ii) the areas that may be granted under a single contract; (iii) the possibility of granting rights over areas that overlap with oil or natural gas production zones; (iv) the holding of specific auctions for offshore wind energy contracts with potential offtakers; and (v) other pertinent regulatory matters essential for the sector's enhancement. This study will examine the current challenges surrounding the guidelines for offshore wind energy exploration in Brazil, a topic gaining attention due to recent legislation and appetite for such projects. It aims to highlight factors unaddressed by current legislation, focusing on considerations, from a Brazilian legal standpoint, for investors, particularly offshore oil producers and other stakeholders in the oil & gas sector, who may be impacted by these projects and are looking to invest in this market that has great potential.

Due to the increasing interest in the last years in cost effective and easy to handle anchoring solutions for floating offshore structures, a series of model tests with so-called Deep Penetrating Anchors (DPA™, Lieng [6]) has been conducted at the Norwegian Troll field. Prior to the tests the penetration depth of the anchors had been predicted based on a representative soil profile as it is commonly used in the FEED-design of geotechnical structures at the Troll field. However, the actual penetration depth achieved in tests was noticeably lower than predicted. Subsequent detailed soil investigations at the test site revealed a somewhat different soil profile than assumed in the design. Calculations accounting for the updated soil profile could explain the discrepancy between the measurements and the prediction. In 1975 True [17] proposed an approach for the prediction of the installation process of cylindrical-shaped objects penetrating dynamically in predominately homogenous soft soils. This approach has been extended and implemented in a FORTRAN routine which can account for arbitrary soil layering and complex geometries of the penetrating object. In addition rate effects are considered more accurately where the soil shear strength is a direct function of the actual penetration rate. This contribution presents a numerical study using the implemented model. The calibration is done by back-calculations of the drop tests performed at the Troll field. The model is then used for a sensitivity study by varying the soil properties in order to identify a reasonable application range of the considered anchor type based on a qualitative evaluation of the achieved capacity. Introduction The concept of DPAs or Torpedo Anchors (TA™) has emerged in the last decade due to the requirements of the oil and gas industry for reliable and cost effective anchoring systems. The anchors considered are torpedo-shaped steel structures with wings that are installed dynamically penetrating the seabed with an initial impact velocity achieved during an underwater free-fall phase. The potential of dynamically installed anchoring systems for the mooring of floating offshore structures has already been recognized by True [17] in the early 70s. The commercial employment of TAs, however, started first in the late 90s by Petrobras, offshore Brazil. While these anchors are used today mainly for the mooring of floating oil and gas facilities, they are also a potential foundation solution for floating Offshore Wind Turbines (OWT) when these move into deeper waters. In order to have sufficient capacity, the anchors - generally 10 to 15 m long and 35 to 115 tons1 - should penetrate approximately 2 to 3 times their length into the seabed. The padeye where the mooring line is attached is located in general at the top of the anchor. Although this padeye position is beneficial for operational aspects and also affects only very little the total (vertical) capacity in case of taut moorings, the padeye position can be unbeneficial for catenary moorings. From studies on suction anchors is known that the highest total capacity can be achieved for padeyes located at the lower half of the anchor2, e.g. Andersen et al. [1]. Similar results have been found for anchor plates, e.g. Rowe and Davies [14].

Offshore desk studies play an important role in providing early insights into site conditions and engineering constraints within an offshore area of interest. However, traditional approaches to producing reports with supporting interpretation through static images and charts have limitations that hinder stakeholders from extracting new information through digital tools and data analytics. In the early stages of development considerations, asset concepts, and business requirements often evolve and change rapidly, necessitating a more dynamic and modern approach to data analysis. As the demand for renewable energy sources, including wind power in Brazil, continues to rise, effective planning strategies are required to optimize the placement and installation of offshore wind farms. Integrating diverse datasets, such as wind resource output, geological conditions, engineering constraints, and anthropogenic features, is essential to gain early insights and make informed decisions. In this context, utilizing a modern cloud-based data platform and harnessing the power of data analytics can significantly enhance the planning process. This paper emphasizes the importance of using a modern, cloud-based data platform to integrate existing (e.g., publicly available, or previously collected) and historical (e.g., initial or multi-year) datasets for early offshore infrastructure planning. Understanding wind resource output is a critical parameter in offshore wind development because it determines project economics; however, these early wind analyses are often decoupled from the ground-related conditions, resulting in inefficiencies in planning due to a lack of understanding of how these variations affect the development (i.e., seasonality). By leveraging a modern cloud-based data platform, all these disparate datasets can be efficiently integrated, stored, processed, and analyzed. Cloud-based solutions offer scalability and flexibility, enhancing the usefulness of data integrated from various sources. Furthermore, cloud platforms increase planning efficiency by providing a collaborative environment that facilitates interdisciplinary cooperation among stakeholders, including geoscientists, engineers, environmental experts, and regulators. The integration of data analytics techniques within the cloud-based platform brings added value to offshore infrastructure planning even at the earliest stages. Analytical algorithms, temporal modeling, and advanced tooling can uncover hidden patterns, correlations, and trends within the integrated datasets. The resulting information helps project owners identify potential infrastructure-related challenges. Several examples of advanced analytics from offshore Brazil are provided within the paper, showing how additional insights can be gleaned and concept planning can be expedited by utilizing a modern integrated approach to early site assessments.

Power output variations of co-located offshore wind turbines and wave energy converters in California

Do onshore and offshore wind farm development patterns differ?

Two marine ornithologists spent two days watching seabird behaviour from a fixed platform at the periphery of offshore wind farm Luchterduinen, The Netherlands, in January 2018. The aim of this study was to assess whether meaningful observations could be made from a non-moving platform, that was part of the wind farm scenery, i.e., one of the turbine foundations. On each observation day, a turbine was selected that was located at the wind farm perimeter, that offered views both of the interior of the wind farm and to waters just outside the wind farm. Earlier studies of seabirds in offshore wind farms have shown that many species tend to avoid wind farms, but also that some individuals, of most species, do enter. However, as these studies are typically conducted from moving platforms (ships or aircraft), it is not known how birds behave within a wind farm perimeter. Birds that find themselves between moving turbines might be intimidated. This might impair their normal feeding behaviour at sea, if the birds would be overly watchful, or mainly seeking to exit the wind farm. On the other hand, birds may specifically move into a wind farm, if they can deal with the fact that turbines are present, and if feeding conditions within the wind farm are good. Such birds would be expected to show feeding behaviour, such as diving.Seabirds may also be habituating to the presence of wind farms in their environment. In the airspace below the rotors, at the sea’s surface and under water, there is no danger to seabirds from collision. Seabirds can thus safely enter and feed in offshore wind farms, and may, over the years, have learnt to exploit this new habitat. Therefore, even though earlier studies have shown displacement of seabirds away from offshore wind farms, this may no longer be the status quo as seabirds may be adapting to the new situation: a marine environment with offshore wind farms.Two auk species, the common guillemot and the razorbill, were seen to move through the wind farm. Birds were seen here both flying and swimming, and diving (presumably for food) was commonly seen. Northern gannets were also commonly seen within wind farm perimeters, but only flying: not swimming or diving. We observed bird behaviour during only two days, in a relatively new wind farm not visited by us earlier, while using different methods of observing seabirds, as compared to earlier T-0 and T-1 studies nearby offshore wind farms. Acknowledging these methodological limitations, seabird presence in the wind farm seemed considerably higher than observed during the earlier T-0 and T-1 (personal observations) periods. This might suggest that these birds (both auks and gannets) are habituating to the wind farms in their environment.Based on this pilot study of only two days of observations in only one season, it is fair to conclude that meaningful behavioural observations can be made from the turbine foundations and that the suggested process of habituation can be followed. It is suggested to conduct more such observations and to do so both from peripheral turbines and from turbines deeper into the wind farm.

The development of offshore wind power has become a pressing energy issue, driven by the need to find new electrical power sources and to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Offshore wind farms can harness tremendous wind resources without annoying citizens and with a comparatively low environmental impact. They are thus becoming a central pillar of a carbon free energy system. However offshore turbines and wind farms are costly to install and maintain, making reliability and cost-effectiveness key issues. This work covers reliability of offshore wind farms as a whole, starting from weather and wind conditions, dealing with wind turbine technology, farm layout, monitoring, safety and maintenance. The thoroughly revised second edition additionally covers turbines of up to 10 MW, turbine design changes, turbine converters, HVDC converter stations and DC links, offshore sub-sea collector and export cables, and the structures supporting large offshore wind farms. Offshore Wind Power is essential reading for scientists, engineers, technicians and advanced students interested or engaged in the design of wind turbines, drivetrain technology and power mechatronics, in academia and industry.

<p>Wind turbines in a wind farm extract energy from the atmospheric flow and convert it into electricity, resulting in a localized momentum deficit in the wake that reduces energy availability for downwind turbines. Atmospheric momentum convergence from above, below, and sides into the wakes replenish the lost momentum, at least partially, so that turbines deep inside a wind farm can continue to function. In this study, we explore recovery processes in hypothetical offshore wind farms with particular emphasis on comparing the spatial patterns and magnitudes of horizontal and vertical recovery processes and understanding the role of mesoscale phenomena like sea breezes in momentum recovery in wind farms.</p><p>For this study, we use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, a state-of-the-art mesoscale model equipped with a wind turbine parameterization, to simulate deep offshore and coastal wind farms with different wind turbine spacings under realistic initial and boundary conditions. The wind farms consist of 10000 turbines rated 3 MW spread over a 50 km x 50 km area. We conduct experiments with various background conditions, including low wind, high wind, and sea breeze cases identified using Borne’s method.</p><p>Results show that for deep offshore wind farms, power generation peaks at the upwind edge and monotonically decreases downwind into the interior due to cumulative wake effects of multiple rows of turbines. Vertical turbulent transport of momentum from aloft is the main contributor to recovery except in cases with strong background winds and high inter-turbine spacing where horizontal advective momentum transport can also contribute equally. Coastal wind farms behave similarly in the absence of sea-breezes.  However, under sea breeze conditions, the power production is high at the upwind edge and decreases thereafter but starts to increase again towards the downwind edge of the wind farm because of the sea breeze. The results further show that the contribution of horizontal (vertical) recovery in case of sea breeze conditions increases (decreases) to around 14% (86%) as compared to the non-sea breeze conditions where the horizontal (vertical) recovery contributes 9% (90%) to the momentum recovery in the wind farms. Vertical recovery shows a systematic dependence on wind farm density and wind speed. This relationship can be quantified using low-order empirical equations that can perhaps be used to develop parameterizations for replenishment in linear wake models. Overall, this study is likely to significantly advance our understanding of recovery processes in wind farms and wind farm-ABL interactions.</p>

With the fast development of offshore wind farm, the costeffective collection and transmission of large-scale offshore wind power has been an increasing concern. To better integrate the HVDC technology to the future offshore wind farms, advanced concepts of DC-DC power conversion and DC wind turbines can be extended to all-DC wind farm design. The state-of-art of three key technologies of the offshore all-DC wind farm with parallel connection are studied, including AC-DC power conversion of DC wind turbine, DC-DC power conversion of offshore step-up substation, and operation and control of offshore DC wind farm. A recommended configuration of offshore all-DC wind farm is proposed based on the modular multilevel converter. Suggested future work is also given based on the development trends of these key technologies.

<p>Offshore wind turbines induce atmospheric wakes downstream of typically tens of kilometers length while converting wind energy into electrical power. In the recent years, wakes behind single wind farms have been extensively studied. The growing number of offshore wind farms (OWFs) in the German Bight increases the occurrence of interferences between close neighboring OWFs. Previous studies showed that the proximity of neighboring OWFs impacts the performance of downwind turbines and reduces their capacity factor. However, the interactions of wakes from different wind farms is not well understood, in particular concerning the resulting wind speed deficits, turbulence intensities and superimposed wake lengths.</p><p>The interaction of wakes from two OWFs generally leads to longer wakes. Also, it was observed frequently that  wakes resulting from 2 OWFs reach a third wind farm. Several conditions can entail interactions of wakes from several OWFs, such as the size of OWF (geometry and density of turbines), atmospheric stability and wind speed and directions. The study focuses on the investigation of the interactions of wakes from two and three OWFs using Synthetic Aperture Radar system (SAR), which is an interesting instrument to observe large spatial areas at resolution of 20 m.  The statistical analysis of a 5-year period of SAR data acquisitions by the  Sentinel-1A and Sentinel1-B satellites revealed that the occurrence of interactions of wakes between OWFs exceeds 75% of all the cases for which wakes were observed. The interaction between OWFs is clearly correlated with a certain wind direction range. Additionally, the geometry of OWFs plays a role in the two-dimensional structure of the wakes and the potential for impacting neighboring wind farms. Obviously, wind directions parallel to the alignment of several OWFs are likely to induce strong interactions of wakes.</p><p>SAR data are combined with stability information from atmospheric models and mast measurements to analyse the respective impacts on key parameters of superimposed wakes (e.g. deficit, wake length).  Results are compared with simplified empirical models, which make assumptions about the linearity of the wake superposition process.   </p>

This paper presents both steady-state and dynamic analyzed results of a hybrid offshore wind and tidal farm connected to an onshore power grid using a flywheel energy storage system (FESS). The performance of the studied offshore wind farm (OWF) is simulated by an equivalent aggregated 80-MW doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) while the operating characteristics of the studied tidal farm (TF) are simulated by an equivalent aggregated 40-MW permanent-magnet generator (PMG). Both frequency-domain approach based on a linearized system model using eigenvalue analysis and time-domain scheme based on a nonlinear system model subject to a wind-speed disturbance condition are carried out. It can be concluded from the simulated results that the proposed FESS can effectively stabilize the studied hybrid OWF and TF under various conditions.

This paper presents both steady-state ad transient analyzed results of a hybrid large-scale offshore wind and marine-current farm connected to an onshore power grid via a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link. The performance of the studied offshore wind farm (OWF) is simulated by an equivalent aggregated 80-MW doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) while the operating characteristics of the studied marine-current farm (MCF) are simulated by an equivalent aggregated 40-MW squirrel-cage induction generator (SCIG). Both frequency-domain approach based on a linearized system model using eigenvalue analysis and time-domain scheme based on a nonlinear system model subject to a disturbance condition are carried out. It can be concluded from the simulated steady-state ad transient results that the proposed HVDC link can effectively stabilize the studied hybrid OWF and MCF under various disturbance conditions.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very pleased to have been invited to open this conference. Increasingly, renewable energy – mainly in the guise of wind farms – is becoming a mainstream issue with both the media and the public. This is to be welcomed. Renewable energy has a key role in a sustainable energy policy that is needed to help tackle climate change. But a truly sustainable energy policy needs to consider and address other concerns, for example the possible impacts on biodiversity of wind farms. I would like to thank the British Ornithologists Union for arranging this conference and Chris Perrins (BOU President) for his welcome. Climate change is a grave and present problem. Caused largely by the burning of fossil fuels for energy, it is an unintended consequence of our drive towards a modern economy. In our need for heat and light, for power to travel and for business, we have unwittingly caused climate change. And it will not go away. We need to deal with it. Now. In our 2003 Energy White Paper (DTI 2003), we signalled a new direction for energy policy. It sets out four objectives for our energy policy: To put ourselves on a path to cut the UK's carbon dioxide emissions – the main contributor to global warming – by some 60% by about 2050 with real progress by 2020; To maintain the reliability of energy supplies; To promote competitive markets in the UK and beyond, helping to raise the rate of sustainable economic growth and to improve our productivity; and To ensure that every home is adequately and affordably heated. In brief, the first of these objectives equates to more renewables and a redoubling of our efforts in improving our energy efficiency. You will all be aware of the Government's Kyoto commitments and our additional efforts to achieve 60% reductions in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. In addition to achieving better energy efficiency, in homes and industry, it is imperative that energy production is cleaner and more efficient. The 2003 White Paper, and legislation and support measures introduced since, are establishing a process to achieve cleaner production incorporating challenging targets for renewable energy levels, and I am sure you will be discussing and debating those here at this conference. I announced last week that the UK was on target to meet its Kyoto commitments. As part of our review of the Government's climate change programme it is estimated that our CO2 emissions will be about 13% below 1990 levels in 2010 and that emissions of all greenhouse gases will be around 20% below. However, we cannot afford to be complacent. The figures also showed there has been a 2.2% increase in carbon dioxide emissions between 2002 and 2003. This is disappointing. It underlines the scale of the challenge we have set ourselves of delivering a 20% cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010. Increased sourcing of energy from renewable sources will be an integral and essential part of achieving those figures. That is why we have set a target of achieving 10% of the supply of renewables by 2010 and a goal of doubling this by 2020. It also addresses the UK's obligations under the European Renewables Directive to adopt national targets for renewables that are consistent with reaching the overall EU target of 12% of energy (22.1% of electricity) from renewables by 2010. The Government's renewables obligation on all electricity suppliers in Great Britain to supply a specific proportion of electricity from eligible renewables is a key strand to expand the sector and to achieving these targets. The level of the obligation is 4.9% for 2004/05, and is set to increase to 10.4% by 2010/11. Changes to the renewables obligation, (introduced on 1 April 2005) include increasing the level of the obligation in stages to 15.4% in 2015/16. Indications are that the obligation is working well and encouraging investment − 2004 was a record year for wind farm construction with 240 MW of new capacity constructed, and industry estimates suggest that 600 MW will be built this year [BWEA figures; http://www.bwea.com]. In 2003, 2.7% of electricity was supplied from all renewables so we are starting from a low base. From the construction figures it can be seen that capacity is now being built at a rapidly increasing rate but we still have a long way to go. Wind power is widely recognized as the most cost effective renewable technology with scope for significant expansion. We therefore expect wind to make the main contribution towards our renewables targets and this will only be achieved by both onshore and offshore generation. The Government is not, however, blinkered in its approach to developing renewables. To achieve all our millenium goals and achieve sustainable development we must also address the protection of biodiversity. We must ensure that in meeting our renewable energy targets the quality and diversity of wildlife and natural features are protected. To that end, DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) has undertaken a number of initiatives to ensure that wind farms, and other sources of renewable energy, are not harmful to our biodiversity. We are in the final stages of a 1-year ‘horizon scanning’ project reviewing the potential impacts of future energy policy on UK biodiversity. The project is being undertaken by a consortium led by ADAS, and supported by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Acorus, National Energy Foundation and the University of Plymouth Marine Studies. The project was established in order to review and assess the potential direct and indirect impacts on UK biodiversity (terrestrial and marine) of future energy polices. It will summarize current knowledge, identify gaps and make prioritized recommendations for further research and suggested policy and practical responses. A stakeholder workshop has been held and the final draft project report is currently under peer review. I hope it will be finalized for publication around the end of April or early May. The project has focused on the following energy sources: onshore wind; offshore wind; marine current and tidal energy sources; biomass crops (including agricultural residues, forestry residues and energy crops); small scale hydro (< 5 MW); and novel technologies (solar water heating, ground source heat pumps, photovoltaic and hydrogen fuel cells). The review confirms that wind energy is likely to provide the largest proportion of the renewable energy target by 2020, but there remain some fundamental gaps in knowledge of the impacts on biodiversity and the effectiveness of some mitigation proposals. The land take required for sufficient production of biomass fuels in the UK means that it is unlikely to make up more than 5–20% of the 2020 target, unless large quantities of fuel are imported, the impacts of which will need to be researched and understood. A better solution would be the increased production and use of existing biomass sources in the UK, though best practice guidelines will be needed to ensure minimal impact on UK biodiversity. Of the other technologies, photovoltaics seem to be the renewable energy technology that provides least impact upon biodiversity, provided that manufacturing and mining are subject to stringent environmental requirements. However their rate of development even in a best-case assessment, suggest that this technology is unlikely to provide a significant contribution to the renewables target by 2020. Hence it is unlikely to significantly reduce the input required by the leading renewable energy technologies of onshore and offshore wind and biomass. Solar water heating and ground source heat pumps (GSHP) may provide a means to reduce electricity demand both through the provision of heat and, for GSHP, cooling, but further effort is needed to encourage significant uptake of these technology types. In view of the generally small area of UK land or seabed that is estimated to be required by the scale of each technology considered in the scenarios, it is anticipated that the scenarios formulated for the review for energy generation in 2020 will be met with minimal impacts on biodiversity. To achieve this, however, it will be necessary for renewable energy developments to avoid, wherever possible, sites of high biodiversity interest. Where this is not possible mitigation can often be put in place to address the potential impacts. Legislative and policy measures are available to mitigate and remove many of the biodiversity impacts identified. All schemes require an environmental impact assessment, and where Natura 2000 site are likely to be affected, additional assessments are needed. However, the effectiveness of these mechanisms in achieving biodiversity protection depends on people and industry understanding them and on their effective implementation. In relation to the development of wind farms offshore I am pleased to say that consents have been granted for 12 of the round 1 proposals. Whilst biodiversity objections were raised initially in relation to many of the proposals, these have largely been overcome through cooperation and dialogue between developers, stakeholders and the government's statutory nature conservation agency, English Nature. As a result, the first offshore wind farm at North Hoyle, North Wales, was completed in November 2003 and the second at Scroby Sands, Norfolk, UK, was commissioned in December 2004. Further developments will be constructed in 2005. UK Developers are now pressing ahead with their planning for round 2 offshore wind farms and both the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and DEFRA are supporting work to survey the Irish Sea, The Wash and Greater Thames areas to ensure that any areas of importance to bird populations are identified. In parallel with that work we are developing guidance (DEFRA, 2005) for the industry to help it better understand the potential impacts on biodiversity, and in particular species and habitats protected under the European Wild Birds and Habitats Directives. Whilst currently still under development, that guidance sets out both the potential impacts and steps that can and should be taken to address those. It recognizes that the potential impacts of offshore wind farms on birds can be divided into five categories: (1) habitat loss; (2) loss of food resources; (3) displacement; (4) barrier effects; and (5) collision mortality. Habitat loss refers to the direct loss of seabed resulting from the placement of the turbine foundations and any scour protection, along with any associated losses or changes to benthos due to scour or smothering. Loss of food resources (i.e. fish stocks or invertebrates) can result from damage, disturbance, or scouring of the sites during the development's construction or maintenance phases. Displacement is used here to describe the potential for birds to avoid turbines, or the entire area of a wind farm, due to their reluctance to feed adjacent to large structures because of a perception of threat. This is likely to vary greatly depending on species, and perhaps also on issues such as the size and spacing of turbines and noise caused by the rotors, and lighting. Displacement is likely to be increased by maintenance activities requiring the use of boats and helicopters. Barrier effects result from birds changing their flight lines in response to the perceived barrier presented by a row of turbines. This relates to regular local movements, for example between feeding and roosting areas, as well as to migratory flight paths. The barrier effect could result in birds undertaking longer flights to avoid wind farms, thus resulting in increased energy expenditure and reduced time for other essential activities. If birds are prevented from reaching feeding grounds because of the barrier caused by the turbines, sterilization of the feeding grounds could result. Collision mortality as a result of birds striking turbine towers, nacelles or rotors may be a significant issue where large numbers of birds make regular flights through the wind farm area, especially during conditions of poor visibility or when birds panic in response to disturbance. All of these potential impacts are likely to be more significant and have a greater effect on populations where several wind farms are proposed in the same area. It will be therefore important to undertake assessments of the potential cumulative effects of all proposed wind farms where they are likely to affect the same species or populations of birds. We hope that the guidance will assist developers to take steps to avoid any potential harmful effects at the earliest opportunity, minimizing costs to them and helping to ensure that projects proceed in a sustainable fashion to meet our renewable targets. In addition to being sent, on 23 March 2005, to industry organizations and conservation groups such as the RSPB, a copy of the draft guidance will be placed on the DEFRA website and I would welcome comments on it. Despite the attention focused on offshore wind developments, onshore projects continue to come forward. While there is greater knowledge of wind farm impacts in an onshore environment, the onus is still on developers to come forward with carefully thought out projects that have been considered against a wide range of interests, including any impacts on birds. There is no escaping from the reality of climate change and the effects that it will have not just on mankind, but also our biodiversity. It is already clear that sea-level rise will result in coastal squeeze, landward erosion and displacement of coastal habitats and many migratory bird populations. If we do not address climate change many of these species will suffer and possibly be lost. We must therefore, reduce emissions and usage. But we must also ensure that our solutions – such as onshore and offshore wind farms – also have minimal impacts on our biodiversity. I believe that we have in place a system that will ensure that this is indeed the case. We have set out objectives to do so that recognize this need and we are committed to their implementation. I wish you a successful conference and I look forward to hearing your conclusions.

Renewable wind energy has become an advantageous alternative. By the end of 2020, the total global offshore wind energy capacity has exceeded 35GW, growing more than 106% in the 5 past years, and the capacity has exceeded 6GW. It is estimated that by 2025, the global installed capacity of offshore wind energy will reach 100GW. In 2020, China's new offshore wind energy installed capacity exceeded 3GW, accounting for 50.45% of the world's new installed capacity and became the second-largest offshore wind energy market in the world. Offshore wind energy projects will produce noise pollution with different characteristics during the construction and operation stages, which will cause temporary or permanent damage to marine life to some extent. In this paper, the on-site survey of the underwater noise during the construction period of the second section of the Shapa offshore wind farm in Yangjiang, Guangdong. The survey was conducted on two days, and the measurements were carried out at different distances outside the wind farm. Time-domain waveform analysis and frequency spectrum analysis were performed on the data. The research in this paper can provide technical reference for environmental impact assessment of offshore wind energy projects, and has great application value. Through the analysis of the underwater noise characteristics of the offshore wind farm at different distances, the following results are obtained: Firstly, as the distance increases, the measured sound pressure values far away from the wind farm site are slightly smaller than those at the edge of the wind farm. Due to the multi-path effect, the duration of the acoustic pulse signal measured at the edge of the wind farm is shorter than that outside the wind farm. The noise power of piling at the edge of the wind farm tends to be stable, which has little impact on the apogee. Secondly, the sound pulse of piling causes the underwater noise sound pressure level at the edge of the wind farm to be generally higher than that at the site far away from the wind farm. With the distance increasing, the frequency of the sound pressure peak will be shifted. The noise intensity has the largest change in the frequency range of 0~1000Hz, and it has little impact when the frequency range is over 1000Hz. The underwater noise at the edge of the wind farm is greater than the underwater noise far away from the wind farm by a relatively constant value. Thirdly, as the distance from the wind farm increases, the frequency spectrum within the frequency range of 150Hz to 250Hz changes significantly. Fourthly, the wind farm has little impact on the nearby underwater acoustic environment during the construction period, and the impact range is small, which is not enough to damage the hearing of creatures near the wind farm. However, whether the noise has a long-term impact on the physiology and behavior of nearby marine organisms remains to be verified by further experimental studies.