Wildlife surveys by HiDef Aerial Surveying played a crucial role in today’s granting of permission to build the UK’s largest offshore wind farm almost 100 miles into the North Sea.

HiDef began extensive aerial surveying of marine birds and mammals across almost 3,500 square miles of the Dogger Bank in 2009. Part of the overall project was approved earlier this year, and today’s announcement by the Department of Energy and Climate Change confirms official confidence in the accuracy of HiDef’s data collection and statistical analysis.

During the contract with the Forewind international consortium, HiDef flew nearly a fifth of a million miles, and identified over half a million birds and ten thousand marine mammals. This was achieved without a single reportable environmental or safety incident, while utilising the world’s lowest carbon emission survey aircraft.

Acknowledging the valuable role of HiDef, Forewind’s Offshore Environmental Manager Martin Goff commented:

“Consenting this significant development depended on the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change having complete confidence in the scientific rigour of Forewind’s submission, which included HiDef’s survey data and analysis. HiDef’s exemplary safety record and determination to survey with the minimum of environmental impact helped to ensure this was a rewarding relationship all around.”

Steve Burns, HiDef’s Technical Director responded:

The Dogger Bank is the remotest and the largest of the UK offshore development zones and presented us with major challenges which we were happy to take on, coordinating multiple aircraft and processing hundreds of terabytes of data. We look forward to continuing the relationship with Forewind’s parent companies into the construction period.”

HiDef Aerial Surveying Limited (HiDef), the World leader in high-resolution digital video aerial surveying, is pleased to announce that it has secured a contract with leading energy company SSE to provide services to the Beatrice offshore wind farm, located in the Outer Moray Firth on the north-western point of the Smith Bank, 13.5km from the Caithness coastline.

The Beatrice project is being developed by Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL) and is a partnership formed between SSE Renewables (50%), Repsol Nuevas Energias UK (25%) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (25%). Subject to a positive Final Investment Decision, the up to 664 megawatt (MW) Beatrice project, which was consented by Marine Scotland in March 2014, and granted an Investment Contract by the UK Government in May 2014, is expected to commence construction in 2016.

Speaking on the award, HiDef’s Commercial Director, Kit Hawkins said:

“We’re really pleased that BOWL has selected HiDef to deliver high-resolution surveys at the Beatrice project, as we believe that this underlines the quality of our product and the versatility of what we can offer our clients.

Beatrice is a hugely important project for the UK’s offshore wind industry, being one of the first to be granted a Contract for Difference by the Government and as such it will be a standard bearer for the new support regime. We are proud to be supporting such a key project at a transitional time for the UK renewables sector.

Winning this contract highlights our growing reputation in Scotland and builds on our successful partnerships with Marine Scotland and the Scottish renewable energy sector. We are now actively working at four Scottish offshore wind projects, which is a great indication of the way in which our bespoke survey technique is regarded by industry and regulators alike.”

In response, Lis Royle, the BOWL Offshore Consents Manager stated:

“HiDef’s adaptability and ‘can do’ attitude were key reasons that we selected them to undertake this survey work for BOWL and we are looking forward to the delivery of scientifically robust and accurate data later this year.”

HiDef Aerial Surveying Limited (HiDef) is pleased to announce the agreement of a further year’s contract to deliver high-resolution digital video aerial survey services to Centrica Energy’s Lincs Wind Farm. Lincs is a joint venture between leading UK energy company Centrica Energy, offshore wind market leader DONG Energy and Siemens Project Ventures.

HiDef has delivered ornithological and marine mammal survey services to Centrica across its portfolio of offshore wind projects and this contract is the latest phase in that partnership. The survey’s design was driven by the results of a statistical power analysis undertaken by HiDef’s project partner, DMP Stats, based at the University of St. Andrews. The first year of post-construction monitoring of the Lincs site has already yielded some important results and has demonstrated both the effectiveness of the HiDef technique and the benefits of adopting a strategic-level approach to environmental monitoring.

Kit Hawkins, HiDef’s Commercial Director, announced this week:

“We are pleased to have agreed a further year’s contract to deliver services to Lincs Wind Farm Limited, as this underlines the quality of our product and the high regard in which our clients hold our services. Centrica is one of our longest standing project partners and one with whom we share key goals and standards.

HiDef and Centrica have set the industry standard for both survey and reporting, with the statutory bodies having provided copies of our latest Lincs report to other renewable energy developers as an example of industry leading best practise.”

Jennifer Snowball, Consents and Environment Manager at Centrica Energy, continued:

“HiDef and Centrica have been working collaboratively for a number of years. We are delighted to see that our efforts to find new ways of working are already yielding meaningful and robust scientific results.

The results to date indicate that the impact to sea bird communities from offshore wind farm development is comparable with the predictions made in the impact assessment, whilst revealing some important natural fluctuations in distribution and relative abundance which, using a different survey method may not have been.

On 11 March at St. James Palace in London, Catherine Irwin, a HiDef Aerial Surveying Limited (HiDef) Project Manager, received the Duke of Edinburgh (D of E) Gold Award from the Duke of Edinburgh.

The D of E scheme is designed to engage adventurous young people and provide them with rounded life skills, with the Gold Award being the highest level the scheme offers. In completing this, Catherine had to accomplish five elements: physical, skill, service, residential and expedition, all of which had to be completed within one year.

Catherine’s service element was completed by becoming the City of Newcastle’s district youth network member which then developed into becoming the youth representative for the City of Newcastle district at County level. This enabled Catherine to encourage more of the older Explorers within the district to join the network.

The residential element was completed in Finland at an international camp called Roverway, where Catherine was placed in a patrol of other Gold D of E candidates (many of whom are still good friends) and with whom she took part in new activities and challenges. A key part of this was a community project in the town of Turku, which Catherine found an amazing experience, having to overcoming language barriers and other similar challenges, all of which she overcame.

Catherine also took part in an arduous four day expedition on the Yorkshire moors which even involved fighting off a hungry donkey! Catherine said “The Duke of Edinburgh award was a fantastic opportunity to gain new skills and face new challenges and experiences. To complete all three levels of the award and be able to meet HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at the end was such a special experience and one I will not forget.”

HiDef would like to congratulate Catherine on this hard won and prestigious award and we all hope that she is very proud of an amazing achievement!

HiDef Aerial Surveying (HiDef) has this week confirmed it has completed a seven year licensing deal with the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) of Maine, USA, for exclusive rights to manufacture and sell HiDef’s unique Collision Avoidance Technology in the USA.

In September 2014 the partners received $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to further develop HiDef’s Collision Avoidance Technology, which has been designed to monitor the interaction of birds and bats around wind turbines.

The technology uses two extreme high-resolution cameras that are offset to create a three dimensional view of a wind turbine, the horizon and an area surrounding the turbine. In addition to daytime operations, the cameras use the latest near-infrared technology that will allow the detection of animal movements at night as well as during the day. This capability allows the Collision Avoidance Technology to monitor twenty-four hours a day and track and record the flight paths of birds and bats in the vicinity of turbines. Using complex software algorithms, the technology can then calculate the degree of randomness and make projections of avoidance behaviour.

In the last 18 months, HiDef has licensed their aerial survey technology and methodology to a number of third party providers on an exclusive territory basis, gaining HiDef the United Kingdom Trade and Investment’s (UKTI) Export Champion status for the last three years.

HiDef Director, David Baillie said “We are pleased to have completed the agreement with BRI, as it is the first overseas deal we’ve done for our Collision Avoidance Technology. Unlike the licenses for our aerial survey technology, BRI will be producing units for the US market. The logistics and import duties would have made a real difference to the market cost of the technology if supplied direct from the UK, so we needed to adopt a different and pragmatic approach.”

Managing Director, Mark Robinson added “We have been working hard to return the business to its core competency of developing first to market propositions. More and more of our income will be derived from licensing agreements, across a growing technology portfolio. HiDef expects to complete a further three similar agreements over the next six month period”.

Wing Goodale, Deputy Director of BRI added “HiDef and BRI have collaborated for three years delivering digital aerial surveys to the US Department of Energy. When we first heard about this new technology we couldn’t wait to get involved. We expect to deploy units first at terrestrial windfarms then target the offshore market as construction begins”.

HiDef Aerial Surveying Limited’s (HiDef) Engineering Manager, Adam Whitehouse, has been chosen as the newest addition to the “Faces of Wind Energy” campaign being led by RenewableUK and Action for Renewables.

The Faces of Wind Energy project was launched in 2014 as an information resource to highlight the wide variety of jobs created and supported by the wind energy industry, and to draw attention to the range of professions involved in renewable energy in the UK. It is estimated that over 30,000 UK jobs are directly linked to the wind industry, with the project aiming to showcase the possibilities, from engineering apprentices to community investment managers.

When asked about his role, Adam said:

“Having spent eighteen years in the Royal Navy as an aircraft engineer it’s great to be involved in an industry that recognises transferable skills. I am enjoying the transition into the renewables sector, an industry that really can make a difference not only now but for future generations.

I was introduced into the business by HiDef’s Technical Director Steve Burns, with whom I served on HMS Ark Royal. I researched the renewables industry, looked at the potential of HiDef and was excited at the prospect of working with ever changing technology, alongside passionate personnel and the chance to continue to build on experiences I’d enjoyed in the military.

The company itself is constantly striving to improve – we have a number of Licence deals in overseas countries and we have just been confirmed as a UK Trade & Industry North West Export Champion for the third year running.

HiDef is the leading supplier of high resolution digital aerial surveys to the UK offshore renewable industry and the only UK aerial survey company actively working in the offshore wind sector. I am extremely pleased to be working for a company that is in the forefront of its business and look forward to some very exciting times ahead.”

RenewableUK’s Director of External Affairs, Jennifer Webber responded:

“HiDef is a great example of a UK company playing a leading role in developing the growing renewables industry and highlights the diversity of careers that the green economy supports. HiDef has demonstrated the benefits of the renewable industry to the UK, through their growing turnover, export sales and the number of people that they employ.

HiDef recently announced that it had tripled the number of overseas markets it was active in, with export sales increasing three-fold when compared to the previous financial year. In addition, HiDef had a 40% increase in full time staff numbers within the year, actively demonstrating how UK companies are benefitting from the renewables industry.

HiDef must be congratulated on the fact that the majority of their staff started their careers outside of the renewable energy sector and we are therefore very keen to welcome them onto the Faces of Wind Energy project.”

Kit Hawkins, HiDef’s Commercial Director concluded:

“HiDef is extremely pleased to have been asked to join the Faces of Wind Energy project and to showcase the talents of one of our dedicated and highly skilled colleagues. The campaign is a great way to highlight the demonstrable benefits of the renewables sector to the UK economy, while drawing attention to a few of the people who have made the UK the World leader in offshore wind power.”

The Faces of Wind Energy campaign can be found at URL: http://www.facesofwindenergy.com/

HiDef Aerial Surveying Limited (HiDef) is pleased to announce the appointment of Kit Hawkins to the Board of Directors as Commercial Director.

Kit joins HiDef from international renewable energy consultancy TÜV SÜD PMSS and has a wealth of project management and development experience, having held senior roles on a number of major offshore wind projects, including with Centrica Renewable Energy Limited as Round 2 Development Manager. Kit is a member of a number of key national working groups, such as RenewableUK’s Consents and Licensing Group and the Natural Environmental Research Council’s collision risk modelling steering group.

While at Centrica, Kit developed an excellent working relationship with HiDef as a customer, culminating in the development of HiDef’s Collision Avoidance Monitoring System (CAMS) and its subsequent deployment at the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm. Kit’s role at HiDef will include the maintenance and expansion of the renewable energy portfolio, as well as licensing the company technology and know-how into overseas territories.

Kit stated “I am delighted to be joining HiDef, the market leader in digital aerial surveying. HiDef’s innovative approach to problem solving through technology has always excited me and I am looking forward to driving the company forward and enjoying our future successes.”

Marine Scotland have partnered with HiDef Aerial Surveying to develop a sound aerial survey strategy for Scottish waters, to meet requirements for the sustainable development of offshore marine renewables and a network of Marine Protected Areas. HiDef will install their patented digital video technology into Marine Scotland fisheries aircraft, up to 10 large scale surveys are planned in Scottish waters during the remainder of 2014

Installation of the camera systems has already been completed without a hitch, similarly air crews were trained in the operation of the sophisticated multi camera ultra-HD (16 times HD) system.

The agreement will see HiDef conduct a review of survey footage, then undertake analysis of the data and report on findings.

Mark Robinson a director at HiDef commented; “This deal heralds a unique operational partnership. Normally HiDef would deliver its service using special modified aircraft. Installing our technology into Marine Scotland aircraft allows the government department to leverage value from their own assets, delivering value for money in the process. There were some potential pitfalls in utilising a new aircraft type, and some technical challenges, but I’m delighted to say installation and training went extremely well, thanks largely to the planning our engineers undertook.”

Steve Burns HiDef’s Technical Director added; “We had this project firmly in our sights, even prior to Marine Scotland issuing their competitive tender. We felt we were best placed to secure this contract as we are the only provider who had experience in deploying technology at arms-length.”

HiDef Aerial Surveying today announced it has signed an exclusive deal with BioConsult SH GmbH & Co. KG of Germany which will see the environmental consultancy operate HiDef’s technology and infrastructure under licence. The five year contract allows BioConsult SH to provide digital video surveys to German wind farm developers, government departments and academic institutes.

The agreement which is thought to be the first of its kind in the sector ushers in a change in HiDef’s overseas strategy. Mark Robinson a director with the company explains “the business has been operating on a ‘direct to market’ policy in a number of territories since 2011, whilst we have had some notable successes we came to realise partnering with third parties established in a defined market, who are already providing similar services would allow HiDef to focus on core competencies such as development of technologies and the underpinning environmental science”.

HiDef are in discussion with other potential licensees in North & South America, Scandinavia, Australasia and Asia and expect to conclude at least three other exclusive license contracts in 2014.

Commenting further on the announcement Robinson said “Choosing BioConsult SH as a partner in Germany wasn’t a difficult decision, our organisations share common objectives and commitment to customers. They are highly experienced, have excellent exposure to potential customer, and as an indigenous service provider can hit the ground running”.

Georg Nehls Managing Director of BioConsult SH said “We looked at, and evaluated all options for delivering digital aerial surveys, including stills photography and developing our own system. It quickly became apparent developing a camera platform from scratch with all of the algorithms and supporting infrastructure would take a considerable amount of time and investment. Our assessment demonstrated digital video technology provided benefits which couldn’t be derived from ‘off the shelf ‘stills cameras. This led to a series of meetings and tests with HiDef over a twelve month period. By the end of next month we will be in a position to undertake digital aerial surveys using our own aircraft, camera rigs and processing systems. We are proud to be the first provider of digital surveys in Germany.

HiDef announced that it has secured a 12 month contract to conduct aerial surveys for the State of Maryland with their bespoke super HD digital video technology. The project will see HiDef analyze sea bird and sea mammal species in state waters for proposed offshore wind projects.

Maryland has proven to be a front runner in the offshore wind sector in the US. The surveys will accelerate the process of producing power from offshore wind in Maryland and will help achieve Maryland’s goal of being one of the first states to build offshore wind farms. HiDef is working in collaboration with the Biodiversity Research Institute to provide eight surveys in 2013-14.

Steve Knight, President of HiDef Inc said “We are delighted to be working with Maryland State, we believe our proposition was compelling as it allowed the State to cost effectively piggy back the work our business is contracted to deliver for the DOE. Having a consistent methodology across the two projects means the datasets are entirely compatible, allowing stakeholders to leverage value from each other.”

HiDef has recently completed its 12 month long development and testing programme for its ‘next generation’ of imaging technologies. HiDef uses its patented technology to provide an aerial survey and mapping service to large scale infrastructure developers.

John Martin, Managing Director of HiDef, said “we couldn’t be more delighted with the development and testing phase of our next generation digital video cameras. We have significantly improved the image resolution and colour rendition of the sensors, importantly we have been able to increase image width for each of the cameras by 125%, this means we are able to reduce the amount of flying needed to capture the imagery our clients need. Our system remains the only one of its kind in the world”.

HiDef are now training their staff to operate the computing equipment which underpins the service, this includes the adaptation of new software techniques for reviewing the imagery.

A scientific paper written by Professor Stephen Buckland, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, compares HiDef’s digital video survey platform with another digital aerial survey method and the traditional visual aerial survey method. His comparison study, based on surveys flown in Carmarthen Bay, Wales in March 2009, showed that the digital methods are more efficient at detecting seabird species than the traditional visual survey method, because the aircraft is flown at a much higher altitude, causing less disturbance to sensitive birds species. Professor Buckland concluded that “given the rapid technological developments, we expect digital surveys to replace visual surveys for seabirds in offshore regions”.

John Martin HiDef’s Managing Director commented, “It is pleasing to see that our survey technique has earned scientific credibility in a high ranking peer-reviewed journal. We have come a long way since that study, and are able to offer greatly superior quality images and sampling techniques which supports Professor Buckland’s prediction that the digital technique will eventually replace visual survey methods. It was pleasing to note also that the HiDef digital video survey platform had much the best statistical confidence in the population estimate of common scoter in Carmarthen Bay out of all the techniques tested, showing the importance of intelligent survey design”.

HiDef has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to undertake an extended program of aerial surveys as part of the federal governments ‘smart from the start’ initiative. The contract award, worth $1.4 million will see HiDef conduct digital aerial several surveys over the lifecycle of the three year award with extensive coverage of areas under consideration for large scale offshore wind farms. The surveys will also encompass large parts of territorial waters off the U.S. eastern seaboard. The first survey will be conducted within days and will herald the first time a digital survey technology has been commissioned in North America.

HiDef form part of a consortium of organisations led by Biodiversity Research Institute who will work to validate and expand on the science which underpins the permitting process for construction of offshore wind farms.

HiDef pioneered the use of digital technologies within the environmental permitting space in the United Kingdom in collaboration with various government agencies. The company were the first to apply the technology with The Crown Estate and remain the only company in the world who offer a digital video platform.

John Martin HiDef’s CEO said “We are delighted with the award. We have invested heavily in sensor technology, software and infrastructure to ensure we can scale our capability to the meet the demands that the project presents. Out team have been working for months to prepare aircraft and staff to support the swift mobilisation needed.”

On December 6th, HiDef organized a one day workshop in Boston which brought together the regulatory and scientific community to discuss present permitting processes for offshore wind farms. Leading developers, academic experts, environmental specialists, and notable government figures from both the U.S. and Europe discussed the major challenges and successful techniques involved in the development of offshore wind farms.

Feedback from the event, which was formed in partnership with UK Trade and Investment Boston, was very positive. Before opening up for roundtable discussion, the audience heard informative presentations from Finlay Bennett who is Senior Offshore Industries Advisor of the Joint Nature Conservancy Committee, Prof Steve Buckland who is head of Ecological and Environmental research at St. Andrews University, Andy Webb who is Environmental and Statistics Manager of HiDef, and Alastair Mackay who is the protected species specialist at Forewind who are developing the 9GW Dogger Bank wind farm project in UK.

Kevin McCarthy, who works with Cleantech Business Development for UK Trade & Investment, commented “The team at UKTI Boston was very pleased to assist HiDef Aerial Surveying with their event at the British Consulate – General in Boston. Offshore wind is early stage technology in the United States, and UKTI is glad to align companies like HiDef to help speed deployment and make the permitting process as effective and efficient as possible.”

Following the recent oil spill incident at Shell’s Gannet Alpha platform 112 miles east of Aberdeen, HiDef received a request from statutory advisor JNCC to conduct aerial surveys over a 1,200 square km area using their super high definition aerial camera platform.

HiDef mobilised within twelve hours of request and flew multiple sorties over the effected area capturing imagery of the oil slick and wildlife in the area, with reports and analysis delivered to the stakeholders within hours of the aircraft returning to base.

Finlay Benet of JNCC noted “It is the first time a digital platform has been deployed for this type of work. Having a permanent record of the actual survey is useful for assurance purposes, being able to plan the following days operational priorities from empirical data is invaluable, HiDef were able to deliver this.”

John Martin, HiDef’s Managing Director added, “We were delighted to have been selected to conduct this work, although the challenge was daunting. Aircraft, camera rigs and personnel were all moved to Aberdeen within two hours of being awarded the project; a full technical environment was commissioned at a local third party location and was ready for operation by the time the aircraft returned from their first sorties. This is the first time a digital survey supplier has been tasked to conduct emergency operations anywhere in the world.”