Abstract
This document supports Hornsea Three’s request for a Scoping Opinion from the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for the development of the Hornsea Project Three (hereafter referred to as Hornsea Three) offshore wind farm and associated infrastructure.
Hornsea Three will have a total capacity of up to 2,400 MW and will include all associated offshore (including up to 400 wind turbine generators) and onshore infrastructure. The Hornsea Three offshore export cable route (ECR) corridor search area extends from the Norfolk coast, offshore in a northeasterly direction to the western and southern boundary of the Hornsea Three array area. The offshore ECR corridor is approximately 120 km in length. From the North Norfolk coast, onshore cables will connect the offshore wind farm to the onshore HVAC substation/HVDC converter substation, which will in turn, connect to an existing National Grid substation. Hornsea Three will connect to the Norwich Main National Grid substation, located to the south of Norwich. The onshore ECR corridor search area is 55 km in length, at its fullest extent.
Hornsea Three comprises of an offshore generating station with a capacity of greater than 100 MW and therefore is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), as defined by Section 15(3) of the Planning Act 2008 (the 2008 Act). As such, there is a requirement to submit an application for Development Consent to PINS. The application for Development Consent will comprise full details of the development proposal and will be accompanied by an Environmental Statement (which will outline the full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)) prepared in accordance with the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 (the ‘EIA Regulations’) as amended.
This Scoping Report is intended to support engagement with PINS and relevant consultees in the EIA process, inviting them to provide relevant information and to comment on the proposed approach to the EIA, to ensure that a robust Environmental Statement is prepared and ultimately inform the development of Hornsea Three. In that regard, the main elements of the offshore and onshore, human, biological and physical environment likely to be significantly affected by the construction, operation and decommissioning of the proposed Hornsea Three have been identified. This document also outlines the extent of relevant environmental studies to be undertaken as part of the EIA.
A number of environmental impacts are considered within this Scoping Report. The identification of impacts within this Scoping Report has been based upon an understanding of the environmental conditions likely to be encountered within Hornsea Three, utilising information that has been gained within the former Hornsea Zone, the EIA for Hornsea Project One, the EIA for Hornsea Project Two and other publically available desktop data sources. For several identified potential impacts, further data collection and assessment will be required in order to determine the significance of the effect. These impacts have been scoped into the assessment. For other potential impacts it is proposed, based on an understanding of the nature of the development (including measures adopted as part of the project), that they be scoped out of the EIA (i.e. no further data collection or assessment is proposed).
The site selection for all elements of Hornsea Three infrastructure is ongoing; therefore exact locations of the offshore, landfall and onshore infrastructure are yet to be determined. Extensive consultation with relevant consultees (local authorities, statutory bodies, local community and interest groups) is required before an application for a Development Consent is submitted to PINS, and will help to inform the development of Hornsea Three.