Scottish Natural Heritage Objection to EOWDC Lifted

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has lifted its objection to the cutting-edge European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) off Aberdeen. The news comes after it was revealed earlier this week that all other statutory consultees, which had objected to the plans, had removed their objections.

SNH lifted its objection following consideration of the Environmental Statement that has been included in the Addendum to the EOWDC consent application. The objection has been lifted subject to a number of conditions of consent being put in place.

SNH had previously advised Marine Scotland that there should be a condition of consent in place requiring a design statement for landscape and visual purposes. In response, the Addendum includes five design objectives guiding the design. SNH has confirmed that it “support these objectives”.

Iain Todd, the EOWDC project spokesman, said: “This represents yet another significant landmark for the project and we are very encouraged that all statutory consultees have now lifted their objections to the project. Throughout the evolvement of the EOWDC, we have continued to work closely and diligently with each consultee in order to meet their requirements and the outcome demonstrates the positive benefits of this collaboration.

 “We do believe we have a very strong case for the environmental and economic benefits of the EOWDC to the North East and Scotland, as well as its key role in positioning the region at the forefront of offshore wind globally. The partners remain hopeful for a positive decision on the consent application from the Scottish Government later this year.”

David Bale, SNH Tayside & Grampian unit manager, said: “After considering the application in detail, we believe the development could go ahead without adverse effects to the marine environment, as long as certain conditions are in place to protect sea birds, dolphins and various whale species.”

Other key stakeholders which have lifted their objections to the EOWDC following discussions with the developers behind the green energy scheme include the MoD, National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and RSPB Scotland. The objections were lifted subject to a number of conditions to minimise impacts during construction and operation.

Concerns about the impact of the EOWDC on air defence operations at RAF Buchan have eased after the MoD assessed the developer’s mitigation proposal. Similarly, air traffic controllers at National Air Traffic Services (NATS) have agreed plans for the wind farm developers to invest in radar hardware.

RSPB Scotland was also concerned about impacts on sensitive bird species. These concerns have been lifted after further studies showed that the impacts would be low and within acceptable limits.

Vattenfall, Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group and Technip which form the consortium behind the EOWDC – also known as Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Ltd – will deploy a number of ‘first run of production’ offshore wind turbine models to demonstrate their capabilities.

Recent Government reports have concluded that, with an enormous ramping up of installed offshore wind capacity expected in UK waters by the end of this decade, deployment centres like the EOWDC will play a vital role in helping to reduce the cost of generation in offshore wind and deliver more than £7billion in added value to the UK economy. The EOWDC consortium believes that the centre will place the North East and Scotland at the forefront of the burgeoning global offshore wind industry.

The EU has awarded a grant of €40million under the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) for the development of Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm (Ltd) (AOWFL), also known as the EOWDC. Earlier this year, AOWFL also announced the signing of working agreements with six potential suppliers to deploy state-of-the-art wind turbines at the ground-breaking EOWDC site.

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Press release, October 05, 2012; Image: vattenfall