Post Impact Monitoring

The environmental effects that were initially predicted in a strategic environmental assessment, environmental impact assessment or FFH compatibility assessment need to be subsequently reviewed in terms of the nature and extent of their actual occurrence, particularly in the case of new plans and projects. This monitoring is required by law for strategic environmental assessments. The standard investigation concept of the BSH also provides for a multi-year monitoring during construction and operation on all relevant protected properties. A comparable follow-up is part of the ecological construction monitoring, which is carried out on behalf of 50 Hertz Offshore GmbH for laying the “Baltic 2” cable in the territorial waters and EEZ of the Baltic Sea.

A further follow-up was carried out by us as part of a re-powering project covering different regions on behalf of the Schleswig Holstein State Planning Agency . In the town of Ellhöft in North Frisia (Schleswig-Holstein) four wind turbines of the type Siemens Bonus 2.3 MW with a total height of 139.5 metres were built adjacent to an existing wind farm. In return, a total of 32 small first-generation wind turbines were dismantled in several communities in Northern Friesland. OECOS GmbH was commissioned to assess whether and to what extent residents, tourists and old system operators themselves confirm the anticipated effect on the landscape. In order to determine the degree of acceptance, OECOS conducted approximately 300 interviews on the basis of semi-structured questionnaires. The results of these surveys provide meaningful evidence of an overall assessment of re-powering projects.