The Tidal Industry Seal Project (TISP) report was developed with input from eight leading organisations in tidal energy and environmental assessment. The report, Managing the Consenting Risk of Harbour Seal Collision in the Scottish Tidal Energy Industry, sets out key recommendations to underpin robust consenting to enable the growth of tidal stream energy in Scotland while addressing environmental concerns – particularly the potential impact on harbour seals.
As a predictable and persistent source of renewable power, unlocking the full potential of tidal stream energy will strengthen energy security and bolster economic growth – imperative for Scotland and the UK to deliver their long-term net zero ambitions. Home to some of the world’s strongest tides, the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters region is the epicentre of the UK’s tidal energy sector. More technologies have been demonstrated, and more tidal power produced from its seas, than anywhere else in the world. This unique setting offers a testbed for developing marine energy at meaningful scale, shaped by local knowledge and environmental context.
However, commercial-scale project development is facing challenges in progressing responsibly given the complexity, uncertainty and long lead-times encountered with the current regulatory framework.
Although extensive monitoring to date has found no evidence of seal-turbine collisions, a high level of precaution is still applied to the perceived risk – particularly in the context of ongoing harbour seal decline in the region. This highlights the need for science-led, proportionate approaches that uphold environmental protection while keeping pace with readiness for scaled deployment.
The tidal energy industry has formed a regional developer group and is committed to working together with regulators and research institutions to strengthen the evidence base on the seal collision risk with tidal turbines and increase the reliability and accuracy of impact assessments. This could involve the development of effective mitigations, better use of existing evidence, exploring opportunities to enhance the environment and trialling new monitoring technologies.
TISP sets out a series of recommendations calling for coordinated action across government, industry, regulators and key delivery bodies to strengthen policy, planning, evidence and monitoring frameworks.
Realising this coordinated approach will require proportionate, solutions-focused regulation, developed in partnership with key actors including NatureScot, that actively supports the responsible deployment of tidal stream energy in line with national goals. This approach should be underpinned by statistical methods and regional frameworks that better reflect population-scale ecological processes and long-term environmental change.
Funder: Crown Estate Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise
