Abstract
This Environmental Assessment Report (EAR) has been prepared in support of Nova’s applications for a Marine Licence from Marine Scotland and a Works Licence from Shetland Islands Council.
Nova Innovation proposes to expand the Shetland Tidal Array (STA) in Bluemull Sound from 5 to 6 turbines. This expansion is part of the Enabling Future Arrays in Tidal (EnFAIT) Project, a Horizon 2020 flagship project, led by Nova in collaboration with 8 leading European industrial and academic partners. The project aims to demonstrate the development and operation of the world’s first offshore tidal array over a five-year period, to prove a cost reduction pathway for tidal energy that shows it can be cost competitive with other forms of renewable energy.
Based on earlier advice from MS-LOT and SNH, collision of the turbine blades with marine mammals and birds was identified as the most significant environmental risk for the proposed extension. The EAR presents the results of a revised collision risk assessment conducted by SNH, which found that there would be no adverse impacts of extending the array from 5 to 6 turbines, assuming a suitable PEMP is agreed and implemented for the array.
The EAR provides the following key information:
- Identification of potential environmental impacts of the STA extension
- Assessment of the key potential environmental impacts
- Contextualisation of the potential environmental impacts
- Approach to mitigating and addressing residual uncertainty about key environmental impacts.