1. Introduction

1.1. Purpose

  1. This outline Aids to Navigation Management Plan (ANMP) has been prepared by RPS and Ossian Offshore Wind Farm Limited (Ossian OWFL), a joint venture partnership between SSE Renewables (SSER) Limited, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and Marubeni Corporation (hereafter referred to as ‘the Applicant’), to support the Array Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report for the Ossian Array (hereafter referred to as ‘the Array’).
  2. The outline ANMP provides the details of the management of the aids to navigation (AtoN) associated with the Array, in accordance with relevant guidance, during the construction and operation and maintenance phases. An ANMP is likely to be required through Section 36 Consents and the Marine Licence as consent conditions and therefore this ANMP will be updated and submitted to Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) for approval post-consent.
  3. This outline ANMP should be read alongside the outline LMP (volume 4, appendix 26) which specifies the types and locations of AtoN to be deployed as part of the Array. This document sets out management arrangements for those AtoN.

1.2. Project Overview

  1. The Array is located off the east coast of Scotland, approximately 80 km south-east of Aberdeen from the nearest point (see Figure 1.1   Open ▸ ).
  2. The Array covers an area of approximately 859 km2. It comprises up to 265 floating wind turbines and up to 15 Offshore Substation Platforms (OSPs). Subsea inter-array cables will connect the wind turbines to each other and to the OSPs, while interconnector cables will connect the OSPs to each other.

Figure 1.1:
Location of the Array

Figure 1.1: Location of the Array

 

1.3. Consent Conditions

  1. Table 1.1   Open ▸ lists the consent consents relating to the management of AtoN. The information in this table will be populated once consents are received.

 

Table 1.1:
The Array Consents

Table 1.1: The Array Consents

 

2. Maintenance of Aids to Navigation

  1. The following subsections summarise the maintenance associated with the AtoN that will be installed at the Array.

2.1. Monitoring of Aids to Navigation on Structures

  1. Monitoring of AtoN on structures for both the functionality and availability of AtoN shall be undertaken throughout the construction and operation and maintenance phases. Downtime shall be monitored remotely during the operation and maintenance phase (via the SCADA system) and visually[1] during the construction phase. From this the overall availability shall be calculated (see section 2.4). Monitoring shall include general maintenance to ensure marine growth etc. does not impact functionality.

2.2. Monitoring of Aids to Navigation on Construction Buoyage

  1. During the construction phase, remote monitoring shall alert the operative to the failure of a marine AtoN. Upon discovery of an extinguished AtoN, the emergency procedures outlined in section 3 shall be initiated.

2.3. Testing

  1. Following the commissioning of all marine AtoN, they shall all be tested at least once per annum. Sound signals shall be equipped with functionality whereby they can be manually overridden in order to carry out annual testing.

2.4. Availability

  1. To assist in meeting the required International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) availability standards of any given marine AtoN, remote monitoring shall be used to ensure that any faults can be rectified as soon as possible.
  2. For navigational buoyage visual confirmation shall be undertaken by on-site vessels (where possible).
  3. The data collected through remote monitoring of AtoN shall be used to calculate the overall availability of AtoN to ensure that IALA availability standards are being adhered to. Availabilities will be reported to the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) via their AtoN Reporting Online Portal (https://nlbhq.nlb.org.uk/latonsonline).

2.5. Temporary Removal of Structures with Key Lights

  1. Major maintenance will necessitate the periodic towing of floating wind turbines to port. Appropriate procedures/mitigations will be agreed with NLB where a Significant Peripheral Structure (SPS) or Intermediate Peripheral Structure (IPS) (as defined in the LMP) is removed from the Array, in order to maintain navigational safety.