1. Introduction

1.1.        Introduction

1.1. Introduction

  1. In January 2022, Ossian Offshore Wind Farm Limited (Ossian OWFL) (hereafter referred to as the ‘Applicant') was awarded an Option to Lease Agreement to develop Ossian, an offshore wind farm within the E1 East Plan Option (PO) Area as part of the ScotWind Leasing Round. This project (hereafter referred to as ‘Ossian’) is a joint venture between Scottish and Southern Energy Renewables Limited (SSER), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Marubeni Corporation (hereafter referred to as ‘the Applicant’).
  2. Ossian is a proposed offshore wind farm located off the east coast of Scotland, approximately 80 km south-east from the nearest point of Aberdeen (see Figure 1.1   Open ▸ ). The Array is located within the Site Boundary and includes the offshore infrastructure required to generate electricity including the wind turbines (including their floating substructures, as well as the mooring and anchoring systems), the fixed bottom Offshore Substation Platforms (OSPs)/Offshore Transformer Modules (OTMs), and inter-array and interconnector cables. The Array is the subject of this Array Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report.
  3. Although Ossian includes both the offshore and the onshore infrastructure required to generate, and transmit, electricity from the Array to an onshore grid connection point(s), 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) review. Therefore, 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)) will not be discussed further within this Array EIA Report. Once the Landfall(s) is agreed a separate EIA Scoping Report and associated EIA Report for the Proposed offshore export cable corridor(s) and a separate EIA and Scoping Report for the onshore transmission infrastructure will be produced. Cumulative effects of the other Ossian elements will be considered insofar as practicable on the basis of available information in the Cumulative Effects Assessment forming part of the Array EIA Report.
  4. For the Array, the Applicant will seek the following consents, licences and permissions:
  • 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/OTMs and interconnector cables within the site boundary).

  1. Collectively, the Electricity Works EIA Regulations 2017 and the Marine Works EIA Regulations 2007 are referred to as the EIA Regulations, hereafter.

Figure 1.1:
Location of the Site Boundary Within Which the Array will be Located

Figure 1.1: Location of the Site Boundary Within Which the Array will be Located

  1. The policy and legislative background to the Array, which details the required consents and licenses alongside EU Exit related amendments, can be found in volume 1, chapter 2 and will not be repeated in this chapter.
  2. This chapter provides an introduction and overview of the Array, the consents and/or licences which are necessary for the proposed works and details the content of the Array EIA Report. As explained in paragraph 3, separate EIA reports will be provided for both the Proposed offshore export cable corridor(s) and the onshore works by the Applicant once grid connection points have been agreed with the National Grid. The Proposed offshore export cable corridor EIA report will describe the transmission aspect of Ossian, covering both offshore waters and waters landward of Mean Low Water Springs (MLWS) whilst the Onshore EIA Report will describe the onshore elements of Ossian landward of MLWS and will support the onshore consent and license applications.

1.2.        Project Overview

1.2. Project Overview

1.2.1.    ScotWind Leasing Round

1.2.1. ScotWind Leasing Round

  1. Crown Estate Scotland (CES) launched the first ScotWind Leasing Round in June 2020. This leasing round gave developers the opportunity to apply for the rights to build offshore wind farms in designated PO areas in Scottish waters. The total generating capacity expected to be built in the next ten years within these specified sites is up to 25 GW. The ScotWind application window for all registered applicants opened in January 2021, with the window closing in July 2021. Option to Lease Agreements were offered in January 2022, with the Applicant being awarded the opportunity to develop within the E1 East PO Area in this Leasing Round. With all Option to Lease Agreements finalised, the total generation capacity of the 20 ScotWind projects stood at just under 27.6 GW (Crown Estate Scotland, 2022).

                        The Array

  1. The site boundary was established through consideration of stakeholder feedback gathered during the pre-application stakeholder engagement phase, , as well as review of environmental and engineering constraint analysis.
  2. Volume 1, chapter 4 provides information on the site selection and consideration of alternatives for the Array, based on the constraint analysis mentioned in paragraph 9, with a detailed project description for the Array included in volume 1, chapter 3.
  3. Key components of the Array include:
  • wind turbines, including floating foundations and mooring, and anchoring systems;
  • inter-array cables;
  • interconnector cables; and
  • OSPs/OTMs.
  1. Mooring and anchoring systems will be used to fix up to 265 floating wind turbines. There will be up to 15 OSPs/OTMs using piled jackets or suction caisson jackets foundations installed in the Array. Subsea inter-array cables will connect the wind turbines to each other and to the OSPs/OTMs, while interconnector cables will connect the OSPs/OTMs to each other.
  2. At this stage the overall capacity for the Proposed Development is not defined. However, the exported capacity for the Array is expected to be 3.6 GW, although this relies on the number and capacity of the wind turbines installed within the parameters of the Project Design Envelope (PDE) defined for this assessment. The most suitable locations for wind turbines will be determined through detailed site investigation works, which will also further improve understanding of the extent of the area for development. This will allow for the refinement and confirmation of the Array generating capacity prior to construction.
  3. The construction activities associated with the Array are expected to last for up to 96 months and are anticipated to commence in 2031 The decommissioning process is likely to follow a similar programme to construction, in a reverse manner. The Applicant is seeking a 35 year consent period.

1.3. Application For Consent

1.3.1.    The Applicant

1.3.1. The Applicant

  1. The Applicant holds vast experience in the renewables sector and an ever-growing portfolio in the offshore wind sector, as described in the following paragraphs.
  2. SSER is a leading developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy headquartered in the UK and Ireland, with a growing international presence. SSER’s portfolio consists of around 4 GW of onshore wind, offshore wind, and hydro. SSER is part of the FTSE-listed SSE plc , with a strategy to lead the transition towards net zero through world class development, construction, and operation of clean power assets across a diverse mix of renewable technologies.
  3. SSE Renewables is investing around £7bn to 2027, or almost £4m a day on average, to support the delivery of SSE’s Net Zero Acceleration Programme to address climate change head on. This includes plans to increase installed renewable energy capacity to around 9GW by 2027, including the delivery of the world’s largest offshore wind farm in construction. SSE Renewables has a team of around 1,800 renewable energy professionals based across the UK and Ireland, Continental Europe, and Japan, all committed to delivering the green energy the world needs now and in the future. Currently SSER’s offshore wind development and construction pipeline in the UK and Ireland are sitting at approximately 8.8GW.
  4. SSER boasts the world’s largest offshore wind energy project in Dogger Bank Wind Farm, located in the North Sea, which when complete will have a generating capacity of 3.6 GW. The project generated its first power in October 2023. An extension to Dogger Bank (Dogger Bank D) is currently under development. A planning application has also been submitted in their name for Berwick Bank Offshore Wind Farm, which when complete will be one of the largest offshore wind developments in the world, with a generating capacity of 4.1 GW. On top of this, SSER and joint venture partners Total Energies are also responsible for Scotland’s largest, and the world’s deepest, fixed bottom offshore site in their 1.1 GW joint venture Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm located in the Firth of Forth, which is fully operational. .
  5. Founded in 2012, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S (CIP) today is the world’s largest dedicated fund manager within greenfield renewable energy investments and a global leader in offshore wind. The funds managed by CIP focus on investments in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity, storage, advanced bioenergy, and Power-to-X. CIP manages 12 funds and has to date raised approximately EUR 26 billion for investments in energy and associated infrastructure from more than 150 international institutional investors.
  6. The UK is a core investment market for CIP. It invests across all phases of the energy asset lifecycle (including origination, development, construction, and operations), both as an equity and/or debt partner. To date, CIP has invested more than £1.5bn in UK-based projects and currently has ~18GW in operation, construction or development phase incorporating Offshore wind, Onshore wind, Solar, Battery energy storage, Biomass, Energy from Waste, and Interconnectors. Marubeni Corporation is a Japanese conglomerate with extensive interests in power generation and renewable energy. The company has built considerable offshore wind experience since its first investment into offshore wind in 2011 as the first Japanese IPP to enter the UK offshore wind market. Part of their ever-growing portfolio is their involvement in the development and operation of over 2 GW of onshore and offshore wind farms (Marubeni Offshore Wind Development, 2023).
  7. Marubeni played a key role, in conjunction with Akita Offshore Wind Corporation, in delivering the first large scale fixed bottom offshore wind farm in Japan with their projects at Akiko Port and Noshiro Port in the Akita Prefecture. During these projects, Marubeni was responsible for the development, construction and maintenance, as well as the financing of the project which consisted of 33 wind turbine units with a total output of 140 MW, generating enough energy to power up to 130,000 households (Marubeni Corporation, 2023). The Noshiro Port and the Akiko Port Wind Farms started operation in December 2022 and January 2023, respectively (Akita Offshore Wind Corporation, 2023).
  8. 20 Marubeni brings a wealth of sector experience of delivering floating offshore wind to the consortium, including leading floating offshore wind demonstration projects in Japan with five different floating foundations. The Fukushima Floating Offshore Wind Farm was operational between 2013 and 2020, consisting of three floating turbines, with total capacity of 14MW, and one floating substation installed 20km off the coast of Naraha-town (Fukushima prefecture). The Kitakyushu Floating Offshore Wind Farm began operating in 2019, consisting of one floating turbine installed 15km off the coast of Kitayushu-city (Fukuoka prefecture). Marubeni managed the project consortiums for these projects, as well as taking a lead role in consenting and permitting, economics analysis, operation and maintenance, and coordination with fisheries gaining significant experience across the full project lifecycle of floating wind, including the decommissioning process.

                        The offshore EIA consultant

  1. The Applicant appointed RPS Energy Consultants Ltd (hereafter referred to as ‘RPS’) to lead the production of the Array EIA Report. RPS is a founding member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) as well as a registrant of IEMA Quality Mark scheme. RPS have a lot of experience of writing EIA Reports for offshore wind projects, having written the reports for the Hornsea Projects one, two and three as well working with SSER to deliver the Berwick Bank Offshore EIA Report. As well as the recent experience of the Hornsea and Berwick Bank projects, the relevant experience of RPS technical experts, and the subcontractors used, can be found in Table 1.3   Open ▸ .

1.3.2.    Application and Associated Documentation

1.3.2. Application and Associated Documentation

  1. Separate consents, licenses and permissions for the offshore (seaward of Mean High Water Springs (MHWS)) and onshore (landward of MLWS) infrastructure of Ossian will be required and will be applied for by the Applicant. The consents, licences and permissions which will be sought by the Applicant relevant to the Array include those listed in paragraph 4, with Table 1.1   Open ▸ providing a summary of the offshore application documentation. As mentioned in paragraph 3, the Proposed offshore export cable corridor(s) and onshore transmission infrastructure of Ossian and, therefore, the onshore application documentation, will be discussed in a separate EIA Report that will be delivered once the grid connection point has been finalised.
  2. More information on the consents, licences and permissions as well as their accompanying policy and legislation for the Array is presented in volume 1, chapter 2.

 

Table 1.1:
Array Application Documentation

Table 1.1: Array Application Documentation

 

1.3.3.    Environmental Impact Assessment

1.3.3. Environmental Impact Assessment

                        Purpose of the Array EIA Report

  1. The Applicant has prepared the Array EIA Report, which has been developed to meet the requirements of the EIA Regulations, to accompany applications for consent as detailed in paragraph 4.
  2. A description of the Array is presented in the Array EIA Report as well as providing the environmental information that has been collated in order to carry out an assessment of the likely significant environmental effects of the Array on the receiving environment.
  3. The Array EIA Report especially:
  • offers technical information to help statutory and non-statutory consultees with their understanding of the Array;
  • provides the current environmental baseline information, derived from desktop studies, site-specific surveys and/or consultation;
  • describes the EIA methodology used in the assessments;
  • describes the potential environmental impacts arising from the Array, when considering the baseline information and gathered data, and the analysis and impact assessments completed as part of the EIA process;
  • carries out an assessment of likely significant effect (LSE1) and considers mitigating actions for these;
  • outlines the level of confidence in the data used in the assessment along with any data limitations, including where any data gaps or shortfalls exist;
  • suggests designed in mitigation measures to avoid, prevent, limit or, wherever possible, offset any significant adverse effects on the environment identified as part of the assessment, and, where appropriate, proposes monitoring arrangements to corroborate findings within the Array EIA Report. Where additional mitigation measures have been identified, the residual significance of effect has also been presented; and
  • provides evidence of the main reasons for site selection and a description of the reasonable alternatives considered for the Array.
  1. An overview of the findings of the Array EIA Report in non-technical language will be provided in the NTS. Both the Array EIA Report and the NTS are available for download at: https://ossian-eia.com/

                        Scope of the assessment

  1. In March 2023, the Ossian Array EIA Scoping Report was submitted by the Applicant to Marine Directorate – Licensing and Operations Team (MD-LOT) to support a request for a formal Scoping Opinion from Scottish Ministers in relation to the Ossian Array EIA Scoping Report (Ossian OWFL, 2023). The Scoping Opinion provided in response to said request was received June 2023 (MD-LOT, 2023). The representations made as part of the Ossian Array Scoping Opinion (MD-LOT (2023)), together with the pre-Scoping workshops held with stakeholders, provided guidance to the Applicant when defining the proposed scope and approach to the Array EIA Report. As a result of this, the Array EIA Report focuses on the following topic areas:
  • Physical Processes;
  • Benthic Subtidal Ecology;
  • Fish and Shellfish Ecology;
  • Underwater Noise;
  • Marine Mammals;
  • Offshore Ornithology;
  • Commercial Fisheries;
  • Shipping and Navigation;
  • Aviation, Military and Communications;
  • Marine Archaeology;
  • Infrastructure and Other Users;
  • Major Accidents and Disasters;
  • Climatic Effects;
  • Offshore Socio-economics;
  • Marine Archaeology; and
  • Inter-Related Effects.
  1. Details of the consultation with statutory and non-statutory stakeholders carried out by the Applicant during the pre-Scoping, Scoping and EIA phases is presented in volume 1, chapter 5, together with a complete list of stakeholders who were involved in the consultation. A summary of the topic specific consultations is also included in each topic chapter (see volume 2, chapters 7 to 19).

                        Structure of the Array EIA Report and EIA consultant

  1. The Array EIA Report is divided into four volumes:
  • volume 1 – Introductory Chapters;
  • volume 2 – Array EIA Report Specialist Assessments Chapters;
  • volume 3 – Array EIA Technical Reports; and
  • volume 4 – Outline Management Plans.
  1. Table 1.2   Open ▸ provides a breakdown of the contents of each of the Array EIA Report volumes and the organisations that have contributed to them.
  2. The Applicant, aiming to provide a robust and well informed application, has ensured that each technical topic listed in paragraph 30 was delivered by an expert team. Table 1.3   Open ▸ provides details on the qualifications and experience of the competent experts involved in the Array EIA Report.

 

Table 1.2:
Structure and Content of the Array EIA Report

Table 1.2: Structure and Content of the Array EIA Report

 

Table 1.3:
Qualifications and Experience of the Offshore EIA Report Competent Experts

Table 1.3: Qualifications and Experience of the Offshore EIA Report Competent Experts

 

1.4.        References

1.4. References

Akita Offshore Wind Corporation (2022). News: Start of Commercial Operation. Available at: NEWS/Akita Offshore Wind Corporation (AOW). Accessed on: 07 July 2023.

Crown Estate Scotland (2022). ScotWind Rapid Review. Available at: ScotWind Rapid Review - Offshore Wind - Scotland's property - Crown Estate Scotland. Accessed on: 06 July 2023.

MD-LOT (2023). Scoping Opinion for Ossian Array. Available at: Scoping - Ossian offshore Wind Farm | Marine Scotland Information. Accessed: 21 July 2023.

Marubeni Corporation (2023). Company Profile. Available from: https://www.marubeni.com/en/company/profile/. Accessed on: 07 July 2023.

Marubeni Offshore Wind Development (2023). Home Page. Available at: https://mowd.jp/en/. Accessed on: 07 June 2023.

Ossian OWFL (2023). Ossian Array EIA Scoping Report. March 2023. Ossian Offshore Wind Farm Limited.