Great Lakes Wind Council April 23 rd 2009 Environmental Issues, Monitoring & Assessment: The European Approach Jonny Lewis Offshore Renewables Manager, RPS Energy 1 RPS Group Plc 1 Introduction to RPS Group 2 Brief History of UK Offshore Wind 3 Offshore Wind: Key Environmental Issues 4 Project Development: Headline Issues 2 1
RPS Group Plc • Europe’s leading environmental, planning and engineering consultancy • Employing over 4,000 personnel in 80 offices (including Houston, Calgary and Halifax) and over 800 associates • Independent consultants operating worldwide • In depth experience of nearshore and offshore surveys and related offshore structures, engineering construction and installation (> 5000 projects) • Projects in over 100 countries per year • Trading since 1970 & FTSE250 Company • One of only 12 companies on the LSE that have increased revenue and profits every year in the past 10 years • Capitalised at more than US$ 1 billion • Revenue ~ US$ 700 million in 2007 3 RPS: Offshore Renewables Project Experience Over 100 offshore renewable energy projects since 2001 Selected Sites: Key Clients: Burbo Bank Airtricity Cromer AMEC Delaware, US Bluewater Wind Docking Shoal Centrica EMEC Crown Estate Gunfleet Sands 1 & 2 DONG Gwynt y Mor E.ON Renewables Humber Gateway Elsam Engineering Kentish Flats Energi E2 Lincs GE Wind Energy London Array Lunar Energy Long Island, US Marine Current Turbines Lynn & Inner Dowsing Naikun Inc. Naikun, Vancouver NI Electricity Race Bank Norsk Hydro Rhyl Flats Npower Renewables Scarweather Sands Open Hydro Shell Flats RES Sheringham Shoals Scottish Power Triton Knoll Scottish & Southern Electricity Walney Shell Wind West of Duddon StatoilHydro 4 Westernmost Rough 2
RPS Group Plc 1 Introduction to RPS Group 2 Brief History of UK Offshore Wind 3 Offshore Wind: Key Environmental Issues 4 Project Development: Headline Issues 5 Brief History of Offshore Wind in the UK • Blyth Offshore became the UK's first offshore wind farm when it was commissioned in December 2000. • Crown Estate owns almost all the UK coastline out to 12 nautical miles. • ‘Round 1’ - 18 sites of up to 30 turbines (1.5GW) • ‘Round 2’ - 15 projects of up to 7.2 GW • ‘Round 3’ – Target of 25 GW by 2020 6 3
Why go Offshore [in the UK]? • Better wind resource compared to onshore • Restricted availability of onshore sites • Planning constraints onshore • Offshore consents from Central Government • Strategic framework (SEA) for offshore development • Out of sight • Capacity for larger projects & turbines (> 5MW?) • Offshore expertise from UK N. Sea Oil & Gas Industry • Increasing reliance on ‘energy imports’ 7 Brief History of Offshore Wind in the UK UK Offshore (Sept. 08) • Operational – 7 projects – 403.8 MW • Under Construction – 8 projects – 1130 MW • Consented – 9 projects – 3,413 MW • In planning – 4 projects – 1,570 MW • Possess lease & undergoing studies – 5 projects – 2,740 MW 8 4
Round 3 – additional 25 GW by 2020 9 Round 3 – additional 25 GW by 2020 10 5
Round 3 – additional 25 GW by 2020 11 Round 3 – additional 25 GW by 2020 The Deeper Seas…… 7000 6000 5000 4000 Round 3 MW Round 2 3000 Round 1 2000 1000 0 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 Water Depth (m) 12 6
The Crowded Seas…… • Environmental issues addressed through strategic zonal development • Marine Spatial Planning (no formal mechanism for MSP yet) • SEA Process 13 Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) • Issued on 26th January 2009 for consultation • Considered 3 scenarios: 1. Not to offer any areas for leasing/licensing 2. To proceed with a leasing and licensing programme 3. To restrict the areas offered for leasing and licensing temporally or spatially Consultation period ends 22 nd April • 2009 • Key issues identified by the SEA relate to proposing a 22km coastal buffer 14 7
Round 3 – Timescales for Development 15 UK Offshore Wind Capacity 16 8
Challenges • Further Offshore - Rising Costs • Supply Chain Bottlenecks • Limited personnel with experience • Lack of environmental data • Grid connection constraints • Limited choice of contractors/ suppliers • Unproven technology (> 3.6MW) • Rising O&M Costs • Deep water engineering 17 RPS Group Plc 1 Introduction to RPS Group 2 Brief History of UK Offshore Wind 3 Offshore Wind: Key Environmental Issues 4 Project Development: Headline Issues 18 9
Physical Environment (1) • Extensive coastal process studies undertaken for projects to date • Concentrated on effects on wave, tide and sediment transport • Detailed data collection and computational modelling 19 Physical Environment (2) • Extensive work also done on scour effects (impact on structures and seabed habitats Arklow Bank Scroby Sands • Current understanding: whilst near-field effects do arise, far-field effects have not been identified. However, majority of data is from piled structures only 20 10
Biological Environment - Overview Key Receptors Key Impacts (construction and operation) • Seabed habitats • Loss/damage to seabed habitats • Fish resources • Damage to fish spawning habitats (spawning grounds) • EMF effects on fish • Birds • Collision risk and displacement of bird populations • Marine mammals • Noise impacts on fish and marine mammals • Inter-tidal seabed • Loss/damage to inter-tidal habitats (export cable laying) habitats • Damage to designated sites (European and UK Law) • Designated conservation sites 21 Biological Environment - Seabed Habitats Case Study: Gunfleet Sands OWF (175MW) • Extensive seabed surveys, using remote (geophysical) methods and grab/trawl surveys • Undertaken pre and post-construction • Localised effects with no regional-scale impacts 22 11
Biological Environment – Turbine Colonisation Case Study: North Hoyle OWF (90MW) • Photographs showing North Hoyle turbine towers and associated young whiting (left) and dense settlement of mussels (right) observed during 2004 monitoring surveys 23 Biological Environment – Protected Species/Habitats Case Study: Lincs OWF (250MW) • Key issues surrounding a discrete reef habitat ( Sabellaria spinulosa ) • Protected under European law, but fishing activity can trawl over this habitat • Presence of this ephemeral feature has resulted in major changes to export cable routes and the need to micro-site turbine positions • This is still a “live” issue and one that presents a key challenge 24 12
Biological Environment – Subsea Noise and Fish Spawning Case Study: London Array OWF (1000MW) • Subsea noise impacts from pile driving on fish spawning • Project close to herring spawning grounds • Uncertain spatial distribution of these grounds • Underwater noise attenuation modelling – variable water depths • Shallow water depth phased piling mid-Feb to mid-Apr 25 Biological Environment – Bird Collision Risk Case Study: Lynn & Inner Dowsing OWF • Radar surveys undertaken pre and post-turbine installation • Focus on pink-footed geese, in particular potential cumulative collision risk effects with other OWF projects • Initial data indicates avoidance reactions to turbines with minimal collision • Follow-up surveys planned (Oct 09) to add to knowledge base 26 13
Biological Environment – Bird Displacement Case Study: London Array OWF • Developer-led surveys ID’s large numbers of Red Throated Divers • EIA determined that key potential impact was displacement • 1000MW project phased to enable monitoring to be carried out • Strict monitoring conditions now imposed 27 Human Environment – Commercial Fishing • Key objections to all OWF projects in UK waters • Key issues raised include loss of fishing grounds, displacement of fishing activity, navigation risk, damage to fish stocks • “Disruption payments” during construction phase • Fishing permitted within 50m of turbines during operational phase • Trials have demonstrated that this is feasible but many fishermen will choose not to due to risk/insurance reasons 28 14
Human Environment – Commercial Shipping • Significant issue for many UK projects to date • Robust Navigational Risk Assessments need to be carried out • Seasonal radar surveys to assess baseline shipping traffic • Traffic Separation Schemes have had to be implemented on some projects (IMO approval required – timescale issue) • Detailed specifications set out for turbine lighting and markings 29 Human Environment – Landscape & Visual • One of the key issues to date for UK OWF projects • Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments (LVIA) required for all projects • Use of visual exclusion buffers (8km, 13km, 22km..?) by UK Government • Organised “anti” lobby groups for some OWF projects • No project yet refused on visual issues, although some have had to revise site size and array layout to gain consent • Reliance on photomontages and wireframes 30 15
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