This environmental impact assessment for Kriegers flak ... - Vattenfall

142 CONSEQUENSES OF THE WIND FARM
picture will be greatly changed. A vertical element in
an open landscape dominated by horizontal lines will
cause a big contrast. Therefore, the wind turbines will
dominate from a close view. It will, however, be dif-
Þ cult to estimate the height of the turbines as there is
nothing else to relate to. The turbines will probably be
viewed as smaller than they are.
The visualisations below show how the wind
turbines will be viewed from an height corresponding
to that of a bridge, at 1,8 and 3,6 km distance (see
pictures at the bottom of the page).
It has not been decided whether trafÞ c will be allowed
in the wind farm area during the operational
phase. According to the law on the Swedish Economic
Zone, it follows that the Government, or the authority
appointed by the Government, (the National Maritime
Board), may issue regulations for a protective zone of
500 metres around each wind turbine. In practice, such
a protective zone would mean that the whole wind farm
plus 500 meters around it would be sealed off.
12.8.2 Collision risk
Big shipping lanes pass to the east, south and west of
Kriegers Flak at a safe distance from the wind farm
(see pictures in Chapter 11.10). Single ships may, however,
always navigate outside of the shipping lanes and
thereby pass Kriegers Flak at a closer distance. Colli-
sions between ships and wind turbines may be caused
by bad navigations, engine failure or faulty/damaged
navigational equipment.
A collision may cause the turbines and the ships to
spill oil and ships may also spill chemical cargoes. Oil
spills can cause impact over larger areas and drift away
with the wind. 18 % of all goods transported in the
Baltic Sea is regarded as dangerous. A collision could,
therefore, cause great consequences for the marine
environment.
There are, however, a number of international rules
that have arisen to prevent large spills. Since 1996, all
new tankers with a capacity of more than 5 000 tdw,
must have a double hull and ships with single hull will
only be allowed until 2015 in the EU countries. Modern
tankers nowadays use several compartments that
are separated, instead of only one large compartment.
This is a measure to prevent large spills.
The risk of a collision between ships and the wind
farm
On behalf of Sweden Offshore, two studies have been
carried out regarding the risks of a collision between a
ship and the planned wind farm and the consequences
of such a collision.
The Þ rst risk analysis was conducted by Germanischer
Lloyd (GL), one of the leading European com-