Can Offshore Wind Development Avoid Harming Nature? Governments and industry want to better protect nature from offshore wind development. Conservationists worry they won’t go far or fast enough. Catherine Early January 11, 2021 Environmentalists want the cumulative impact of multiple offshore wind projects to be considered. (Credit: Ørsted) Just before New Year, offshore wind farm developer Ørsted’s 2.4-gigawatt Hornsea 3 project was given the green light by the U.K. government. But the project highlights the potential conflict between climate-change mitigation and nature protection. A decision on the project had been scheduled for October 2019, but concerns over its impact on bird life, and how to mitigate it, forced a delay.