The MMO's Strategic Renewables Unit (SRU) was established in 2021 to enhance MMO's role in renewables deployment by supporting improvements to renewables rollout beyond individual cases.
Recently, the assertion has been made that if it wasn't for delays with consenting and grid connection, an offshore wind farm (OWF) could be built in two years. To support making the most effective interventions, it is essential that the 'problem' is properly defined. The facts about perceived delays in the planning/consenting stage of OWF deployment need to be set in the context of the time taken for all stages, how those have changed over time, and therefore where there is most potential for reducing delay.
The SRU have reviewed available information, including from Renewable UK and the Crown Estate, on the time taken for different stages in deployment, from strategic planning to generating energy. The analysis reveals that:
- Deployment time has increased by 130% from 7 years in Round 1 to 16 years for Round 3, in part due to the increasing size of individual OWFs.
- However, deployment time per GW has actually reduced, by 90%.
- The evidence shows that the consenting stage is the fastest stage of deployment
- It is technically correct to state that construction can be undertaken in two years (subject to supply chain availability).
- Such conclusions need qualifying - consenting builds on work carried out during the strategic planning and preapplication stages and there is extensive work required post-consent and pre-construction. Work required at this stage includes, detailed site planning, financing for a project, discharging licence conditions and securing additional consents such as European Protected Species licenses for noisy activities. However, once all these elements are in place, construction itself was found to be two years.
The two stages with most potential for accelerating deployment or changing the approach are pre-application and pre-construction, although measures to do so could be applied during other stages.
Pre-application
It is during the pre-application stage that sites are assessed for their impact, both environmental and social. The bullet points below provide examples of where the process can and is being improved:
- OWFs are interacting and competing with a range of interests in a busy sea space.
To facilitate appropriate OWF development, the MMO contributes to strategic planning including through our role as the marine planning body in England, support to the Defra-led x-government Marine Spatial Prioritisation Programme, and input to the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan.
- Work is underway by the SRU, with industry and others, to enable more consistent survey data collection and better use of monitoring from operational OWFs to inform development of new projects.
- The Crown Estate are increasing environmental surveying ahead of leasing opportunities.
- More and larger OWFs means increasingly complex assessments and difficulty in mitigating or compensating for environmental impacts. Defra's offshore wind environmental improvement package (OWEIP) is developing options for compensation at a strategic rather than just the project level. SRU is heavily involved in supporting OWEIP, chairing expert groups such as one on Red Throater Diver.
- Ensuring sustainable OWFs requires engagement with other interests. The SRU are involved in the Fishing Liaison with Offshore Wind and Wet Renewables Group (FLOWW) which seeks to foster good relations between the fishing and offshore renewable energy sectors.
Pre-construction
In England there are 14.72GW of offshore wind currently in pre-construction, that is the same as the current installed capacity of the UK. Accelerating this stage would have significant impacts on our ability to achieve our 2030 targets. The bullet points below set out some areas of improvement that are currently being implemented or investigated.
- Speeding up grid connection is being focussed on by government and industry. SRU are supporting this work via working groups and facilitating engagement with fisheries.
- Improvements in data collection and approaches for construction could improve the time taken for issue and discharge of consent conditions, thereby speeding up the pre-construction phase. The SRU is currently undertaking an evidence project focused on standardising the reporting of post-consent monitoring which will lower the time needed in the pre-construction phase to reach agreement on what is required.
- SRU have been working to manage underwater noise levels, including through working with the oil and gas industry to manage noise levels and through the establishment of an underwater noise co-ordination forum for industry.
To realise the potential of offshore wind and ensure all are brought into the process, it would help to move beyond the language of 'barriers', which can be divisive and come from one perspective and instead emphasise enablers and delivering for multiple interests.
SRU's analysis shows that it is the period either side of consenting that could be accelerated to improve the rollout of offshore wind in the coming years. Several programmes are underway to deliver these improvements and the SRU are heavily involved in many on behalf of the MMO.