This research addresses key challenges and knowledge gaps in avian safety management within offshore wind farm (OWF) development in the North Sea. As the region undergoes rapid expansion of offshore wind energy, there is a growing need to mitigate ecological impacts on seabirds, particularly in relation to their use of airspace as critical habitat. Concerns around bird collisions and broader environmental changes persist, while existing studies highlight considerable uncertainty in avian fatality estimates and migratory behaviour. In response, this thesis seeks to clarify these uncertainties by identifying data gaps, evaluating current methods, and proposing potential solutions.

Central to this effort is the development of a prototype Ecology-Technology Assessment Model. This foundational tool is designed with the mindset to bridge the gap between ecological insight and engineering practice, by integrating wind turbine characteristics, ecological parameters, and project constraints into a flexible optimisation framework. Built on principles from Multi-Disciplinary Analysis and Optimisation (MDAO), the model estimates bird collisions and assesses the economic consequences of potential mitigation measures. While the explicit incorporation of uncertainty lies beyond the current scope, the model is designed to accommodate such extensions in the future. It ultimately supports collaboration between engineers and ecologists and offers a structured platform for continued development.

Building on this framework, the thesis project applied the model to a practical case study at the IJmuiden Ver Alpha offshore wind farm site in the Dutch North Sea. The case study defined relevant ecological and technical input parameters, including wind farm layout, turbine characteristics, wind resource data, and the presence of key seabird species. Using the stochLAB collision risk model (CRM), design variations in minimum tip height (MTH), rotor diameter, and rated power were evaluated to assess their effectiveness in reducing seabird collisions. In parallel, the WINDOW model was used to calculate the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCoE) impacts of these design choices, allowing for an integrated assessment of ecological benefit versus economic feasibility.

Simulation results demonstrated that increasing the minimum tip height is generally the most effective and economically feasible strategy for reducing bird collisions, especially for species with higher baseline collision risks. Increasing rated power was found to be more favourable for reducing a small number of collisions, while varying rotor diameter showed minimal impact on collision reduction within the modelled scenario. Ultimately, the findings emphasise that no universal design solution exists, and that the optimal collision mitigation strategy is highly dependent on the project location, site-specific bird characteristics, and wind farm design constraints. The study concludes by highlighting the importance of combining technical modelling with ecological knowledge, and provides recommendations for future research to improve data availability, model accuracy, and integration between ecological and technical disciplines in offshore wind development.