Units

 

Unit

Description

%

Percentage

gCO2e/kWh

Grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt hou

GW

Giggawattes

ha

Hectares (area)

km

Kilometres (distance)

km2

Kilometres Squared

m

Metre (distance)

MW

Mega Watts


1. Introduction

1.1. Overview

  1. Under the Habitats Regulations, where adverse effects on the integrity (AEOI) of a European Site cannot be excluded, decision-makers may grant consent for a plan or project that must be carried out for imperative reasons of overriding public interest (IROPI) where there are no alternative solutions and subject to compensatory measures to ensure that the overall coherence of the national site network is maintained. These three tests (no alternative solutions, IROPI and compensatory measures) form the “Derogation Case” on which the decision-maker should be satisfied before granting consent for a plan or project.
  2. Conclusions reached in the RIAA have identified the potential for AEOI on seven Special Protection Areas (SPAs) supporting populations of black-legged kittiwake, Northern gannet and razorbill. In view of these conclusions, it is necessary to provide the requisite information and justification (the Derogation Case) to satisfy the HRA Derogation Provisions in respect of the species for the SPAs identified.  This Derogation Case made as part of the Application provides robust and sufficient information to allow the Scottish Ministers to grant the application for the Array in compliance with the Habitats Regulations.
  3. It is also noted that in circumstances where AEOI are identified for a European site outside Scotland or the Scottish offshore region, the Scottish Ministers must notify the relevant Competant Authority and can only agree to the project after having been notified of the Competant Authority’s agreement. As such, the enclosed documents provide a comprehensive Derogation Case that can be relied upon by the Scottish Ministers and any Competant Authority to the extent required.

1.2. Project Background

  1. Ossian Offshore Wind Farm Limited (Ossian OWFL) (hereafter referred to as the “Applicant”) is proposing to develop Ossian Offshore Wind Farm (the Project), within the E1 Plan Option (PO) Area as part of the ScotWind Leasing Round. The Project is a joint venture between SSE Renewables Limited (SSER), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Marubeni Corporation.
  2. The Project will include offshore and onshore infrastructure including an offshore generating station (the Array), offshore export cables to landfall and onshore transmission cables leading to an onshore convertor station connecting to the electricity transmission network.  
  3. This application seeks permission from Scottish Ministers to construct and operate the Array. To do this the Applicant is seeking the following consents and licences:  
  • a Section 36 consent under the Electricity Act 1989 for an offshore generating station in the Scottish offshore region (12 to 200 nm) where generating capacity exceeds 50 MW; and  
  • Two Marine Licences under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (MCAA) (Scottish waters beyond 12 nm) for the following:  

–           generating station (wind turbines, including their floating substructures and mooring and anchoring systems and inter-array cables); and   

–           transmission infrastructure (OSPs and interconnector cables within the Array Area site boundary).  

  1. The proposed offshore export cable corridor(s) and proposed onshore cable corridor(s) (including all infrastructure such as onshore converter station(s) at the Proposed landfall location(s)) are not included within the application. This is because the proposed landfall location(s) have yet to be agreed and will be decided following the ongoing Offshore Transmission Network Review (OTNR) and National Grid Holistic Network Design Follow Up Exercise (HNDFUE).
  2. The Array comprises of up to 265 floating wind turbines. At this stage the overall capacity for the Array is not defined. However, the exported capacity for the Array is expected to be 3.6 GW. The Array will be approximately 80 km south-east from the nearest point of Aberdeen.

1.3. Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment

  1. A Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment (RIAA) accompanies the application for the Array. The RIAA assesses whether the Array could have an adverse effect, either alone, or in-combination with other plans or projects, on the integrity of any European site. European sites include Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), candidate SACs (cSACs), Sites of Community Importance (SCI), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and, as a matter of policy (Scottish Government, 2020), possible SACs (pSACs), potential SPAs (pSPAs) and Ramsar Sites (listed under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance).
  2. For SACs with designated features including diadromous fish and marine mammals, the RIAA concluded ‘No adverse effect on the integrity of the site’, either from the project alone or in-combination with other developments. For SPAs, the RIAA again concluded ‘no adverse effect on the integrity of the site’ for project-alone impacts. However, the RIAA concludes that a potential adverse effect cannot be ruled out, when considered in-combination with other plans and projects, at seven sites and for three qualifying seabird species. This impact is a result of disturbance and displacement and/or collision during the operation and maintenance phase of the Array. The predicted impacts are set out in Table 1.1   Open ▸ .

 

Table 1.1:
Summary of the Array Predicted Impacts on Relevant SPA Features

Table 1.1: Summary of the Array Predicted Impacts on Relevant SPA Features