UnitsUnits

UnitsUnits

 

Unit

Description

bn

Billion

cm

Centimetre

dB

Decibels

grt

Gross registered tonnage

GW

Gigawatt

kHZ

Kilohertz

kJ

Kilojoules

km

Kilometres

km2

Square kilometre

kW

Kilowatt

kW/h

Kilowatts per hour

kW/m

kilowatt per metre

m

metre

mm

Millimetre

m2

Square metres

m/s

Metres per second

m3/d/m

Cubic metres per day, per metre

mg/l

Milligrams per litre

MW

Megawatt

nm

Nautical mile

nT

Nanotesla (magnetic flux density)

tonnes

Equal to one thousand kilogrammes

µg/g

Micrograms per gram

%

Percentage

o

Degree

C

Degrees Celsius

£

Pounds Sterling

£,000

Thousand British pound sterling

 

Executive SummaryExecutive Summary

Executive SummaryExecutive Summary
  1. Ossian Offshore Wind Farm Limited (OWFL) (the Applicant) is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (SSER), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni) (hereafter referred to as ‘the Applicant’). The Applicant is developing Ossian, an offshore wind farm project within the E1 Plan Option (PO) Area awarded by Crown Estate Scotland (CES) as part of the ScotWind Leasing Round.
  2. Ossian includes both the offshore and onshore infrastructure required to generate and transmit electricity from the offshore infrastructure to an onshore grid connection point. The Applicant is seeking consent to develop the offshore components of the Ossian Array (hereafter referred to as the Array), which are the subject of this Array Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report (hereafter referred to as this Scoping Report).
  3. Due to the ongoing National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) Holistic Network Design Follow Up Exercise (HNDFUE), the grid connection location for Ossian is currently unknown. Therefore, separate consent applications will be submitted for the Proposed offshore export cable corridor(s) (seaward of Mean High Water Springs (MHWS)) and the Proposed onshore export cable corridor(s) (including the onshore substation; landward of Mean Low Water Springs (MLWS)) once the grid connection location has been identified. The Proposed offshore export cable corridor(s) and Proposed onshore export cable corridor(s) (including the onshore substation) will be considered within the Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA) of the Array EIA Report (as appropriate) to comply with the EIA Regulations.
  4. The Array will be located approximately 80 km south-east of Aberdeen, Scotland, and will comprise the following infrastructure components:
  • up to 270 wind turbine generators and associated floating support structures and foundations;
  • up to six Offshore Substation Platforms (OSPs) with either fixed bottom foundations or associated floating support structures and foundations;
  • moorings and anchoring systems for each floating substructure;
  • a network of dynamic/static inter-array cabling linking the individual wind turbines to OSPs, end links plus interconnector cables between OSPs; and
  • ancillary elements including scour protection and clump weights.
  1. The Applicant will seek the following consents, licences and permissions for the Array:
  • a Section 36 consent under the Electricity Act 1989; and
  • a marine licence(s) under the Marine and Coastal Access Act (MCAA) 2009 (applicable to Scottish offshore waters between 12 nm and 200 nm).
  1. An EIA Report will be prepared and submitted to support the required applications for offshore consents, licences and permissions for the Array, which will fulfil the requirements of the following regulations:
  • in respect to a Section 36 consent application: The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017; and
  • in respect to a marine licence(s) application: The Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007.
  1. This Scoping Report has been prepared to support a request for a formal Scoping Opinion from Scottish Ministers in relation to the Array, and includes a summary of the existing physical, biological and human and socio-economic environment, based on known and accessible data sources, as well as an overview of any site-specific surveys undertaken to date. The potential scope of impacts associated with the construction, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning phases of the Array and the proposed methodology for assessing the significance of effect for the technical topics are also presented in this Scoping Report. The following technical topics have been considered within this Scoping Report:
  • offshore physical environment

             physical processes;

             subsea noise;

             air quality

             airborne noise; and

             climatic effects.

  • offshore biological environment

             benthic subtidal ecology;

             fish and shellfish ecology;

             marine mammals; and

             offshore ornithology.

  • offshore human and socio-economic environment

             commercial fisheries;

             shipping and navigation;

             aviation, military and communications;

             marine archaeology;

             seascape, landscape and visual impact assessment;

             infrastructure and other users; and

             offshore socio-economics.

  1. The Applicant welcomes responses from consultees to this Scoping Report. Each topic specific section contains a list of questions for consultees to provide response to, and the Applicant requests a formal opinion on the key impacts identified, the data sources used, and the methodology proposed.
  2. The Applicant would also welcome feedback on the draft Stakeholder Engagement Plan (dSEP) for future consultation, which sets out the proposed approach for focused consultation with key statutory and non-statutory stakeholders throughout the pre-application process. The dSEP will be used to optimise post-Scoping consultation and ensure any further engagement is focused and efficient. The dSEP will apply to the EIA and Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) process.

1. IntroductionIntroduction

1.
IntroductionIntroduction

1.1. BackgroundBackground

  1. In January 2022, as part of the ScotWind Leasing Round, Ossian Offshore Wind Farm Limited (Ossian OWFL) (the Applicant) (a joint venture between Scottish and Southern Energy Renewables (SSER), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni), hereafter referred to as 'the Applicant', were awarded an Option to Lease Agreement to develop Ossian, an offshore wind farm project within the E1 Plan Option (PO) Area.
  2. The site boundary is located off the east coast of Scotland, approximately 80 km south-east of Aberdeen from the nearest point (see Figure 1.1   Open ▸ ). The Array is located within the site boundary and comprises the turbines (inclusive of their floating substructures and mooring and anchoring systems), Offshore Substation Platforms (OSPs) (inclusive of their fixed bottom foundations or floating substructures and mooring and anchoring systems if used), and inter-array and interconnector cables. The Array is the subject of this Array Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report (hereafter referred to as ‘this Scoping Report’).
  3. Ossian includes both the offshore and onshore infrastructure required to generate and transmit electricity from the Array to an onshore grid connection point (location and parameters to be confirmed, see paragraph 13). The parameters and exact location of the Array infrastructure will be confirmed post-Scoping following review of site-specific data and front end engineering design work.
  4. This Scoping Report (and, subsequently, the Array EIA Report to be prepared in due course) considers all the offshore infrastructure within the Array only (as listed in paragraph 11). A separate EIA Scoping Report and associated EIA Report for the Proposed offshore export cable corridor(s) and Proposed onshore export cable corridor(s) (including onshore substation at the Proposed landfall location(s)) will be produced in future once relevant information is available following conclusion of 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 onshore substation at the Proposed landfall location(s)) will not be discussed further within this Scoping Report.
  5. The Applicant will seek the following consents for the Array:
  • a Section 36 consent under the Electricity Act 1989; and
  • a marine licence(s) under the Marine and Coastal Access Act (MCAA) 2009 (applicable to Scottish offshore waters between 12 nm and 200 nm).
  1. There is a requirement for EIA Report to be prepared and submitted to support the required applications for offshore consents, licences, and permissions for the Array (see section 1.5 and Appendix 4 for further detail). The Array EIA Report is required to fulfil the requirements of the following regulations:
  • in respect to a Section 36 consent application: The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017; and
  • in respect to a marine licence(s) application: The Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007.
  1. These regulations have collectively been referred to as the EIA Regulations, hereafter.
  2. Stakeholder consultation will be detailed in, and will inform, the Array EIA Report. Section 4.3.4 and the draft Stakeholder Engagement Plan (dSEP) (Appendix 1) presents the proposed approach to Stakeholder Consultation. It is anticipated that the Array EIA Report will be submitted to Scottish Ministers in 2024.
  3. A 50-year consent period is being sought by the Applicant. If the Applicant sought to repower the wind farm in the future, beyond this consent period, then they would be required to submit a separate application to cover any proposed new development.
  4. The Proposed offshore export cable corridor(s) EIA Scoping Report and EIA Report and Proposed onshore export cable corridor(s) EIA Report (including onshore substation) will be submitted as part of a separate application(s) once grid connection locations are known.

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

1.2. Project OverviewProject Overview

  1. Crown Estate Scotland (CES) launched the first ScotWind Leasing Round in June 2020. The ScotWind Leasing Round allowed developers to apply for the rights to build offshore wind farms in Scottish waters within specified PO areas, with up to 25 GW of new generating capacity expected to be built over the next ten years. The application window for registered applicants opened in January 2021 and closed in July 2021, with Option to Lease Agreements offered in January 2022. The Applicant was awarded an Option to Lease Agreement to develop Ossian within the E1 PO Area in this Leasing Round. As of October 2022, 20 ScotWind projects were awarded Option to Lease Agreements, with a total generating capacity of just under 27.6 GW (Crown Estate Scotland, 2022a). Further information on site selection and alternatives is provided in section 3.
  2. The site boundary is approximately 859 km2 ( Figure 1.1   Open ▸ ). A maximum of 270 wind turbines supported on floating foundations (including and mooring and anchoring systems) will be installed within the Array. Up to six OSPs and associated foundations (fixed-bottom or floating substructures and mooring and anchoring systems) will be installed within the Array. Subsea dynamic/static inter-array cables will connect wind turbines to each other and to the OSPs. Interconnector cables will connect the OSPs to each other, if required. Full details of the project description is provided in section 2.
  3. The process of decommissioning is likely to follow a similar programme to construction, albeit, in reverse. The Applicant has a ten year Option to Lease Agreement with CES and is seeking a 50-year consent period.

1.3. Array EIA Scoping ReportArray EIA Scoping Report

1.3.1. PurposePurpose

  1. This Scoping Report has been prepared to support a request for a formal Scoping Opinion from Scottish Ministers in relation to the Array. Responses from key statutory and non-statutory consultees to this Scoping Report are expected to inform the Scoping Opinion to be produced by the Scottish Ministers, which will assist the progression of the Array EIA Report by the Applicant.
  2. This Scoping Report will provide stakeholders with information on the Array and allow for stakeholders to engage on the key topics to be addressed in the Array EIA Report, as well as the baseline data sources and assessment methodologies proposed to inform the Array EIA Report. A summary of the information requirements as set out in the EIA Regulations (the Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007) and where these can be found in this Scoping Report is provided in Table 1.1   Open ▸ .
  3. Potential environmental impacts are considered within this Scoping Report, including impacts which are proposed to be scoped out of the Array EIA Report due to having no predicted likely significant effects (in EIA terms) or no effect-receptor pathways identified. This Scoping Report seeks to gain agreement with key stakeholders to determine final impacts to be scoped in and scoped out of the Array EIA Report, and to agree assessment methods and approach to be used within the Array EIA Report (see section 4.3.4).
  4. This Scoping Report has been developed using a number of tools and processes, as per the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) (2017) ‘Delivering Proportionate EIA’ guidance, with the aim of producing a proportionate and robust EIA Report. Further details of these can be found in section 4.3.2.
  5. Guidance on the approach to EIA was also provided by the Marine Scotland - Licensing Operations Team (MS-LOT) and NatureScot during pre-Scoping workshops held with stakeholders in November 2022. Consultee feedback received to date through pre-application engagement with stakeholders has also been considered in drafting this Scoping Report. The information presented in this Scoping Report aims to inform further stakeholder advice to agree the approach to undertaking a robust and proportionate EIA for the Array.
  6. The Applicant welcomes the opportunity for further engagement with stakeholders and feedback on the Array and the scope (proposed content) of the Array EIA Report as part of the formal Scoping Opinion and throughout the EIA process. In addition, the Applicant welcomes feedback on the dSEP, presented in Appendix 1, which details the scope and process of focused consultation throughout the EIA process.
Table 1.1:
Scoping Requirements of the EIA Regulations and Where the Information is Included in the Array EIA Scoping Report

Table 1.1: Scoping Requirements of the EIA Regulations and Where the Information is Included in the Array EIA Scoping Report

 

1.3.2. ApproachApproach

  1. The approach to scoping that has been taken for the preparation of this Scoping Report is provided within this section. The aims of this scoping process are as follows:
  • to provide a high-level overview of the baseline environment and the data collection and survey methodologies proposed to inform the EIA baseline characterisation for each technical assessment;
  • to propose the impacts to be scoped out of the Array EIA Report including a clear justification for doing so; and
  • to propose the impacts to scope into the Array EIA Report and the existing evidence base to support this, where appropriate.
  1. This approach will allow the development of a proportionate Array EIA Report, through focusing on potential impacts which either have the potential to lead to a likely significant effect, or where significant uncertainty exists on potential effect.
  2. The topic specific sections of this Scoping Report each include:
  • an overview of the study area and baseline characterisation;
  • a list of identified potential impacts to be scoped in and scoped out the Array EIA Report;
  • a list of identified designed in measures;
  • an overview of the proposed approach to the EIA;
  • an overview of potential cumulative effects;
  • a screening assessment of potential transboundary impacts;
  • a list of questions to the stakeholders associated with each technical section; and
  • a summary of suggested topic specific next steps.
  1. Technical baseline characterisations are provided in Appendix 5 to Appendix 12 which provide additional detail to support the information provided in the topic specific sections of this Scoping Report.
  2. Section 4 provides further information on the approach to this Scoping Report.

1.3.3. StructureStructure

  1. Table 1.2   Open ▸ sets out the structure of this Scoping Report. Consideration of human health in this Scoping Report is provided in the airborne noise and air quality sections (section 5.3 and section 5.4).
  2. Water and sediment quality will be assessed via topic specific assessments, where appropriate, due to the strong interlinkages with topic receptors.
  3. A standalone chapter in the Array EIA Report will provide an assessment of the potential effects arising from major accidental scenarios and disaster, as well as the control measures which will be utilised to address these. In addition, a standalone Climate Change chapter is proposed to be included in the Array EIA Report which will assess the potential effects, both positive and negative, arising from the development of the Array, using a qualitative assessment methodology (see section 5.5).

 

Table 1.2:
Topics Within this Scoping Report

Table 1.2: Topics Within this Scoping Report