Page 12 - Alderney Regional Environmental Assessment of Renewable Energy: Environmental Report

Alderney

Regional Environmental Assessment of Renewable Energy:

Environmental Report

Receptor

Potential Mitigation

Siting of the onshore development to minimise effects on the built heritage and character, as

well as on views, avoiding prominent hill tops and open sites and using existing landform and

woodland to provide screening where possible;

On site selection, complete a more detailed archaeological assessment identifying the

archaeological sites in proximity to the development area; and

Locate the onshore substation and wind turbine to minimise direct damage to identified

archaeological sites.

Cables, pipelines and

grid connectivity

Follow best practice measures, including the mapping of known infrastructure and the use of

cable awareness technology (CAT) scans, and

Consultation with Alderney Electricity Ltd in order to identify existing infrastructure at the

project planning and design phase and requirements for replacing where necessary.

Commercial and

recreational fisheries

Reduction in the number of tidal devices and associated cables in order to minimise the

displacement of fishing activities;

Avoid sensitive sites/species/periods e.g. arrays and cable routes should where possible

avoid identified fishing grounds; and

Cable and device design should reduce snagging risks.

Commercial and

recreational shipping

and navigation

All commercial vessels that operate within Alderney waters must comply with the IMO’s:

o

International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS);

o

International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for

Seafarers (STCW); and

o

The Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea

(COLREGS).

Carry out site specific planning, including a Navigational Risk Assessment (NRA) following

industry best practice (for example; using UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA)

guidance in MGN 371, and the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)

guidance entitled ‘applying for safety zones around offshore renewable energy installations’);

In order to minimise disruption to mariners and other users of the sea, safety zones for

construction, major maintenance and eventual decommissioning phases will be considered

and applied if identified through the NRA process;

Carry out site specific planning during operational phase to minimise collision risk, site

selection to identify vessel routes, use of appropriate mitigation such as safety zones;

Carry out hydrographic surveys to accurately establish depths and clearances over devices

and quantify any effect on local tidal streams and directions;

Marking of devices using the guidance provided in the International Association of

Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) Recommendation ‘O-139’ on the Marking of Man-Made

Offshore Structures;

As stipulated in Trinity House guidance on ‘provision and maintenance of aids to local

navigation’, undertake regular maintenance to ensure markers are properly lit, maintained

and checked;

Undertake a detailed site specific assessment of shipping traffic to determine most

appropriate location for development;

Avoid areas where there is risk of major disturbance to shipping traffic;

Avoid development in shipping routes of importance to international and inter island

navigation;

Marine information dissemination (Notices to Mariners);

Ensure mariners are aware of proposed works via the issue of chart update;

Regular maintenance of devices part of operator licensing; and

Review by the Coastguard of rescue provision, including monitoring capability to ensure

operational commitments can be met.

Recreation and

Tourism

Best practice measures such as publicising the developments and any associated diversions

during construction; and

Careful consideration of the extent, number and layout of infrastructure to minimise impacts

on seascapes and visual receptors identified as being of higher sensitivity to such

development.

R/4001/7

(ix)

R.2129