Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the finding in the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research paper, Paint it black: Efficacy of increased wind turbine rotor blade visibility to reduce avian fatalities, by Roel May and others, published in Ecology and Evolution in July 2020, that the number of birds killed by wind turbines can be cut by 72% by coating one of the blades black, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on ensuring that wind turbines (a) procured for use and (b) manufactured in the UK are required to have a contrast third blade.

We understand offshore wind developments have an environmental impact. Impacts on seabirds are of concern given the future acceleration of offshore wind to support the British Energy Security Strategy and the Growth Plan.

Defra is working with other Government departments, marine regulators, Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies, industry, NGOs and academics to understand the impacts on seabirds more fully and to find ways to manage and mitigate them.

Prompted by the findings of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research's paper which focused on a terrestrial location, Natural England has recently published a report to determine the applicability of this mitigation approach at sea. In Marine birds: vision-based wind turbine collision mitigation, Natural England reviewed the use of black and white patterns on turbines and blades, considering how various bird species with differing visual capabilities can best detect them under a range of conditions at sea, and so avoid collisions.

Defra is developing a suite of Offshore Wind Environmental Standards which aim to ensure that offshore wind farms are designed, constructed, operated, monitored and decommissioned in a way that minimises their impact on the marine environment. As part of this work, we will be further investigating the applicability of blade painting for offshore windfarms.