On Monday 15th May 2017, Seagreen Wind Energy Ltd (“Seagreen”) requested a Scoping Opinion from Marine Scotland Licensing Operations Team, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, for the proposed Seagreen Phase 1 Wind Farm Project (the “Development”).
This Scoping Request was accompanied by a Scoping Report which identifies the potentially significant impacts associated with the proposed Development during construction, operation and decommissioning.
The Scoping Report details the proposed scope for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and eventual production of an Environmental Statement (ES) to accompany consents applications for the Development.
The Scoping Report also identifies key design changes associated with the proposed development over the previous consent applications and considers the implications of these changes in terms of environmental impacts.
Through submitting the scoping request Seagreen is seeking to use of the advances in wind turbine technology and design since the original consent application was submitted.
The prospective Development would be located within the same area as that considered in the 2012 EIA for the Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo sites.
The Scoping Report is also a means to begin consultation with stakeholders and consultees to commence discussion of the survey methodologies to inform the EIA.
Seagreen will maintain this communication involvement throughout the process.