Location: Iceland
The challenge
The client was looking to build a 200 MW onshore windfarm in the west of Iceland – one of the first utility-scale wind developments in the country. To date, Iceland’s power has centered mostly on production from hydro and geothermal plants. However, power producers are now looking towards opportunities for generating wind power due to the environmental and social impacts posed by those other renewable technologies (e.g. flooding large areas for hydro power plants). This type of technology is therefore new to regulators and stakeholders. ERM was commissioned to undertake the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for this development to predict and evaluate potential impacts the windfarm is likely to have on key aspects of the receiving physical, biological and socioeconomic environment.
What we did
ERM’s ESIA enabled the identification of appropriate measures to mitigate and manage any impacts of the project, which is a requirement of the Icelandic planning system, while conforming to international good practice – including the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards, the Equator Principles and the World Bank Group’s Environmental and Social Guidelines. Key baseline studies completed for the assessment included two years of bird vantage point surveys, habitat assessment, and cultural heritage surveys. ERM also completed a landscape and visual assessment for the project. This required the collection of viewpoints from within a zone of theoretical visibility of the proposed windfarm site, production of photomontages using specialist software, and development of a virtual fly-through for presentation at community meetings.
The impact
ERM worked with an Icelandic partner to support the client navigate the emerging regulatory regime for wind developments in Iceland. This included developing and presenting technical notes to help develop stakeholder and regulator understanding of onshore wind technology, the associated impacts, and how to implement internationally recognised, best industry standards to assess, mitigate and manage project risks.
