RPS leads New Zealand’s first marine baseline study for offshore wind development

RPS leads program to capture baseline data on marine mammals

Taranaki Offshore Partnership (TOP), an offshore wind joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and the New Zealand Super Fund, has engaged RPS to conduct New Zealand’s first offshore wind marine baseline study in the South Taranaki Bight. Managed by RPS, this study will gather critical data on the marine mammal presence and habitat use, which will contribute to environmental assessments and inform the feasibility of a proposed offshore wind farm in the region.  

The 12-month study involves placing three passive acoustic monitoring devices on the seabed to gather valuable information on whale and dolphin behaviour, including migration patterns. The data will help manage potential impacts on marine life from the construction and operation of the proposed wind farm, which includes plans for a 1 GW offshore wind farm off the coast of Pātea. 

RPS’ APAC Operations Director and Offshore Wind Leader, Anna Crameri, emphasises the importance of the study. 

“Marine baseline studies are vital to understanding the movement patterns of marine mammals. Using hydrophones to record the vocalisations of species like blue whales and southern right whales, this study offers valuable insights into how an offshore wind farm might impact local marine life.”

“RPS’ study equips TOP with solid data to make informed decisions about how, where, and when wind turbines would be installed. The data collected will help inform TOP’s feasibility assessments and design and mitigation strategies, and it also serves as the foundation for future environmental impact assessments.”   

This study continues RPS’ history of supporting pioneering offshore wind initiatives globally. 

“We led the technical studies for Star of the South, Australia’s first proposed wind farm, and conducted the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for Hornsea One in the UK, the first wind farm in the Hornsea Zone and now one of the largest operational wind farms in the world. We are proud to carry on our tradition of ‘firsts’ with this new project in New Zealand,” Anna adds.    

The proposed South Taranaki Bight wind farm is expected to provide over 1 gigawatt (GW) of clean energy – enough to power around 11 percent of New Zealand homes.