Kittiwake Artificial Nesting Structures for Hornsea Three Offshore Wind Farm

Other key credits: Ørsted – the client; LDA Design; Royal HaskoningDHV; NIRAS; GoBe; Red7 Marine; Four Tees Engineering; Seiche; Anatec; MSDS Marine; WSP; Neubau; Fugro; Spectrum Geosurvey; Balfour Beatty

Executive summary from entrant: 

The black-legged kittiwake is on the UK red list for conservation status. Global leaders in offshore wind energy, Ørsted, commissioned artificial nesting structures (ANS) to conserve kittiwake colonies and to compensate for potential impacts of Hornsea 3, the UK’s largest offshore windfarm. The structures are situated near colonies at Hartlepool and off the Suffolk coast at Lowestoft and Minsmere. Each can accommodate 500 nests. LDA Design led on the design of the ANS and onshore planning. This work was based on a thorough understanding of kittiwake behaviour and consultation with an ornithology group. The first ANS chick fledged August 2024.