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EDF has been urged by campaigners to stick with plans to install underwater loudspeakers to deter fish in the Bristol Channel, as the energy company grapples with delays to construction of its Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor.
The row over the “fish disco” deterrent, as it is known in Whitehall circles, marks the latest salvo in the UK’s long-running battle to balance growth with environmental protections.
Mark Lloyd, chief executive of The Rivers Trust charity, said France’s state-owned energy company should keep its commitment to the acoustic fish deterrent, as part of its Hinkley Point C project.
His comments follow warnings that wrangling over fish protection risks further delaying completion of the Somerset power plant, which is already several years behind schedule and billions of pounds over budget.
Plans for the deterrent system involve 288 underwater speakers that would produce underwater noise louder than a jumbo jet all day, every day for six decades, according to EDF.
But despite previously agreeing to build an “acoustic fish deterrent”, EDF is now trying to scrap those plans, saying they would endanger divers and is instead proposing salt marshes to shelter fish.
But Lloyd argued that, unless the acoustic deterrent was installed, “there are likely to be local extinctions and a very significant impact on marine species throughout the South West and the Irish Sea”.
EDF rejects this characterisation, pointing out that regulators estimate the amount of fish that will be harmed without the deterrent is 44 tonnes per year, equivalent to an annual catch of one small fishing vessel.
The government has vowed to remove unnecessary environmental requirements for developers so that they can focus on “getting things built”.
Rachel Reeves, chancellor, told developers last month they could “stop worrying about bats and newts” as Labour planned to reduce obstacles to new infrastructure and curtail the right to appeal against planning decisions in court.
Revelations last year that Britain’s High Speed 2 rail line spent £100mn building a railway arch to protect bats has sparked angst in Whitehall that environmental rules could be hampering economic growth.
However, EDF is still seeking to address what it calls “a small remaining” impact on fish from the 3.2-gigawatt Hinkley Point C project, following other wildlife protection measures already in place.
Its original plan for an acoustic deterrent sought to help prevent an estimated 18 to 46 tonnes of fish per year from being sucked into the plant’s cooling systems, as they take water from the Bristol Channel.
The group later applied to the Environment Agency for permission to drop the proposals, due to doubts over its effectiveness and risks to divers having to maintain the speakers. The agency rejected the request.
EDF plans instead to apply to the energy secretary to alter its original planning permission, highlighting the UK’s need for low carbon electricity, and offering to create salt marshes and other measures instead.
“The remaining potential harm to fish populations is recognised as being very small,” it told local communities in a letter in January. “Nevertheless, the project is obliged to find ways to mitigate for this impact.”
