Abstract
The offshore wind (OW) sector is set to expand significantly to meet ambitious Government targets under Clean Power by 2030 and achieving net zero. It is recognised that the scale and location of future developments could mean that the derogation process1 is increasingly likely to be triggered, hence there is a need for industry-scale consideration of how robust compensation will be delivered in the future. Strategic compensation has been identified as a potential solution for addressing some of these issues and could help streamline consenting timelines and deliver improved environmental outcomes at a seascape scale.
This project forms part of the Offshore Wind Evidence and Change (OWEC) programme, led by The Crown Estate in partnership with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The OWEC programme is an ambitious strategic research and data-led programme. Its aim is to facilitate the sustainable and coordinated expansion of offshore wind to help meet the UK’s commitments to low carbon energy transition whilst supporting clean, healthy, productive, and biologically diverse seas.
The OWIC-led Strategic Compensation Studies (SCS) project aims to investigate the effectiveness of certain potential strategic compensation measures through desk-based studies and practical pilots to increase confidence in measures and provide strategic compensation options for OW plans and projects.
This report, written by The Biodiversity Consultancy (TBC) on behalf of the OWIC-led SCS project, forms part of the SCS infrastructure removal work package and aims to provide an initial investigation into the potential for removing defunct infrastructure in UK marine waters as a means of providing ecological compensation when Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are adversely affected by residual impacts from OW development. Using publicly available data, the study maps the distribution and status (e.g. abandoned or not in use) of various infrastructure types, including pipelines, cables, coastal defences, and other marine installations, within and around the UK’s MPAs, including Special Protection Areas (SPAs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), Highly Protected Marine Areas (HMPAs) and Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (NCMPAs).
A spatial analysis was conducted to quantify the length and/or count of these infrastructure features located within MPAs. To support exploration and decision-making, an interactive online mapping tool was developed. This tool visualises the infrastructure data alongside current and planned windfarm sites, the MPA network and ecologically important marine habitats. It is intended to provide users with a practical means of assessing whether the removal of specific infrastructure from MPAs could contribute meaningfully to marine conservation and restoration efforts via strategic compensation.
Initial analyses highlight that there is potential for infrastructure removal as a strategic compensation opportunity, particularly in English waters where MPAs, many in proximity to OW, overlap with ~3000 km of disused pipelines, ~3400 km of abandoned cables and ~3400 counts of various disused infrastructures. However, the potential of infrastructure removal as a strategic compensation measure must be considered in the context of existing policy drivers, notably OSPAR Decision 98/3, which may already mandate the removal of certain infrastructure types, as well as the potential environmental costs and benefits associated with any infrastructure removal. Other considerations include additionality, feasibility and cost of removal and the practicalities of implementing infrastructure removal on a strategic scale (due to the nature of some infrastructure this will need to be considered on a ‘case-by-case’ basis).