Dogger Bank is a fascinating area of mud and sand bank covered by shallow waters of the North Sea.

It is pretty much due east from Redcar Beach, some 77 miles from shore.

A huge area of the Bank covering some 3343 square miles (equivalent to the size of North Yorkshire) has been proposed as the site of the UK’s largest wind farm yet, with construction planned to start in just five years time.

Forewind Ltd is a consortium of UK and European energy companies which has been awarded the license to develop the Dogger Bank zone, the largest zone in the Crown Estate’s third licence round for UK offshore wind farms.

In April, the company began the process of consulting with interested parties as part of the planning application process for its proposed wind farm.

The Dogger Bank zone is not only the largest of the proposed offshore sites; it is also the farthest from shore presenting a number of significant technical challenges.

The size of this challenge also has significant benefits in terms of sustainable power generation; it is hoped that the completed scheme will deliver ten percent of the country’s projected electricity requirements.

The bank was once part of a large landmass, known as Doggerland, which connected Britain to the European mainland until it was flooded at the end of the last ice age.

Fishing trawlers working the area have dredged up remains of mammoth and rhinoceros, and occasionally Paleolithic hunting artefacts.

Now the area is noted for its marine life with many species of fish, thousands of seabirds and an exciting variety of marine mammals including grey and common seals, harbour porpoise, minke and fin whales.

It seems that the shallow waters are rich in plankton and also provide ideal conditions for sand eels.

These in turn attract commercial fish species (mackerel, plaice, whiting and cod), seabirds (such as fulmar and kittiwake) and cetaceans, in particular the harbour porpoise.

In fact, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, adviser to the government on nature conservation issues, is proposing the Dogger Bank be designated as a SAC–a European Special Area for Conservation, because of its shallow sandbank habitat and also because of the large numbers of harbour porpoise that occur.

As part of its planning process Forewind is already conducting new bird surveys of Dogger Bank, crossing the area in boats and planes in an attempt to determine the numbers of birds which use the area and whether there are any regular patterns to their behaviours and flight paths.

The cabling and electrical operations of the wind turbines will also need to be assessed for possible effects on marine mammals and their complex communication systems.

It is not as if this proposal is to construct turbines in a pristine natural environment.

The bed of the North Sea has in many places been damaged beyond recognition as a result of human activities.

One of the most destructive activities is beam trawling, in which a large net attached to a heavy metal beam is dragged across the sea bed behind a boat, digging into and ploughing up the ground.

The beam, which can be up to 12m long, keeps the net open horizontally while several tons of ‘tickler’ chains can be used to raise fish which may otherwise be crushed by the beam.

The target species are usually shrimp or bottom-dwelling flatfish such as plaice and sole, but its indiscriminate nature means that hundreds of other species, including corals and seafans, are killed in the process.

The erection of turbines could effectively restrict fishing within Dogger Bank, with environmental and economic consequences.

Climate change also poses a major threat to the North Sea’s marine life.

As the North Sea warms, species that prefer colderwater (e.g. Cod) are steadily shifting north to remain in cooler water, while warm water species such as spider crabs and sea bass are moving into the North Sea from the south.

Another effect of climate change is an increase in the acidity of sea water.

In the North Sea, this could have a serious negative effect on animals that produce shells, such as molluscs and crustaceans.

The implications of climate change cannot be ignored and the development of significant sustainable energy generation projects must be part of the solution.

While the cables that will be needed to bring the electricity generated on Dogger Bank to shore are more likely to be heading for Bridlington than the Tees, there are some possible land-based benefits for Teesside.

Tees and Hartlepool’s PD Ports are hoping to have an important role in the supply and maintenance work associated with a wind farm and the Tees Alliance Group will be hoping to construct turbine bases and towers at their Haverton Hill yard.