Caithness Moray HVDC Link Offshore Installation Public Engagement Event

Transcription

1 Caithness Moray HVDC Link Offshore Installation Public Engagement Event Consultation 21st November - Portgordon 22nd November - Buckie 24th November - Wick

2 Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Project Overview Caithness Moray HVDC Reinforcement Who we are Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Plc (SHE Transmission) Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution Plc (SHEPD) Other SSE Businesses Southern Electric Power Distribution (SEPD) We are part of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, operating under licence as Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Plc for the transmission of electricity in the north of Scotland. In total we maintain about 5,000km of overhead lines and underground cables easily enough to stretch across the Atlantic from John O Groats all the way to Boston in the USA. Our network crosses some of the UK s most challenging terrain including circuits that are buried under the seabed, are located over 750m above sea level and up to 250km long. Our licence stipulates that we must develop and maintain an efficient, co-ordinated and economical system of electricity transmission. What is the difference between Transmission and Distribution? Electricity Transmission is the transportation of electricity from generating plants to where it is required at centres of demand. The Electricity Transmission network, or grid, transports electricity at very high voltages through overhead wires, underground cables and subsea cables. The transmission network connects large scale generation, primarily renewables, to central and southern Scotland and the rest of Great Britain. The Electricity Distribution network is connected into the Transmission network but the voltage is lowered by transformers at electricity substations, and the power is then distributed to homes and businesses through overhead lines or underground cables. Overview of Transmission projects Existing infrastructure Completed Under construction Potential development Advanced planning Mybster Spittal Orkney Gills Bay Shetland Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Plc (SHE Transmission) is the licenced owner of the electricity network in the north of Scotland. Operating under licence means that we have obligations that we must fulfil. These obligations include providing a suitable and sufficient network to transfer electricity and ensuring we provide connections to generators. In recent years Caithness has seen a significant increase in the amount of renewable generation. This generation is predominantly from wind farms. The transmission network gathers in this power and carries it to areas where it is in demand. We work with the Transmission System operator, National Grid, who is responsible for operating the transmission network across the whole of the UK, to make sure that power flows smoothly and reliably across our network. The existing infrastructure in Caithness is no longer capable to transfer all of this power, so SHE Transmission are constructing a number of new substations, replacing overhead lines and introducing a high voltage direct current (HVDC) connection across the Moray Firth between Caithness and Moray. This public event focuses on this HVDC connection and in particular, the work across the Moray Firth. Caithness - Moray RPL split at 12nm territorial limit The landscape and environment that contribute to the challenges we face also give the area a rich resource for renewable energy generation. There is a high demand to connect from new wind, hydro and marine generators which rely on Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks to provide a physical link between the new sources of power and electricity users. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is delivering a major programme of investment to ensure that the network is ready to meet the needs of our customers in the future. Our responsibilities As we are the only company that owns an electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland we are closely regulated by the energy regulator Ofgem. We are issued with a licence to operate and we must adhere to the terms of the licence. For this reason we operate on a very separate basis to other SSE businesses. Western Isles Skye Kintyre Mossford Arran Beauly Lairg Fort William Dalmally Hunterston Loch Buidhe (Bonar Bridge) Knocknagael Denny Moray Firth Tomatin Fort Augustus Perth Blackhillock Kintore Kincardine Aberdeen Peterhead Front cover photo courtesy of ABB A0: 1:100,000 Outside 12 nautical mile marine licence 12 nautical mile limit Inside 12 nautical mile marine licence In order to ensure a successful completion of the project, SHE Transmission have contracted ABB AB to deliver the HVDC element and both parties are working closely with one another to ensure a successful outcome.

3 Stakeholder Engagement and Consent Offshore Programme Installation The need for this project was identified in 2006 and was developed over the next seven years before obtaining sanction from Ofgem to progress with construction. During this time, there has been regular dialogue between SHE Transmission and organisations who may be affected by the project (stakeholders). The consenting authority for the offshore elements of the project is Marine Scotland. In July 2016, Marine Scotland provided SHE Transmission with the final of three marine licences. These permit the project to progress into construction whilst adhering to the specific conditions within each licence. Marine Scotland includes these conditions to ensure the marine and coastal environment experiences minimal adverse impact and also to ensure that the interests of other users of the sea are considered. Dialogue will continue with Marine Scotland until they are satisfied that the cables have been installed in accordance with all of the licences. The project has employed a Fisheries Liaison Manager to ensure minimal adverse impact to the local fishing industry. Whilst it is recognised that there will be some changes to normal fishing patterns, this can be minimised with careful planning and management. To enable this, a working group was set up in 2015 which includes representatives from the Scottish Fishermen s Federation, Marine Scotland, SHE Transmission and its contractors to address any matters of concern. This group meets quarterly and allows updates from the parties to be tabled. Regular direct contact is also made with nearshore static fishermen at either end of the proposed HVDC link. The Crown Estate is another stakeholder which SHE Transmission has been in discussions with for several years. A sovereign agency, The Crown Estate has provided SHE Transmission with a lease agreement to lay the cable within 12 nautical miles of the UK coastline. There is no lease agreement required out with this 12 nautical mile limit. SHE Transmission has also been in dialogue with other organisations relating to the installation works.these organisations are listed below: The installation programme is set out below. The intention is to carry out the offshore works throughout The timescales have been calculated using the expected ground conditions and ambient prevailing weather at the Summer 2016 Autumn 2016 Winter 2016/2017 Noss Head (Caithness) HDD Drilling at Noss Head - Complete Boulder clearance of the full route Trenching starts of the full route time. However, the timescales may be subject to some alteration should the parameters upon which they were based change. Any changes/updates to timescales will be notified to the stakeholders at the time they materialise. Portgordon (Moray) HDD Drilling start HDD Drilling end Marine Scotland Scottish Natural Heritage JNCC Joint Nature Conservation Committee The Crown Estate First Oil Expro Faroese Telecom WDC - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Hydrographic Office Spring 2017 Trenching ends for the full route Cable pull-in at Portgordon Cable Laying from Portgordon to midpoint Tristan Southall Fisheries Liaison Manager Craig Taylor Subsea Assistant Project Manager Brian Mitchell Subsea Project Manager Peter Watson Marine and Consents Manager Scottish Fisherman s Federation North and East Coast Inshore Fisheries Group Maritime and Coastguard Agency RNLI Royal National Lifeboat Institution Royal Yacht Association Buckie Harbour (including Portgordon) Wick Harbour MORL Moray Offshore Renewables Limited BOWL Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited Suncor Energy Premier Oil KIS-ORCA ABB AB Local tourist operators (Caithness and Morayshire areas) Local residents (Caithness and Morayshire areas) Community Councils (Caithness and Morayshire areas) Spey Fishery Board NLB Northern Lighthouse Board MoD Ministry of Defence SEPA Scottish Environmental Protection Agency Moray Firth Partnership Local schools (Caithness and Morayshire areas) Summer 2017 Autumn 2017 Winter 2017/2018 Cable pull-in at Noss Head Cable Laying from Noss Head to midpoint Rock Placement nearshore Noss Head Offshore cable Joint Backfilling starts for the full route Backfilling ends for the full route Rock Placement starts across the remaining route Rock Placement ends across the remaining route Rock Placement nearshore Portgordon

4 Caithness Landfall Between January and April 2016, drilling took place from land between Noss Head and Staxigoe village near Wick. Four drills were undertaken and popped out on the seabed approximately 800m from the coastline on the seabed using a technique known as Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD). Each drill was then lined with steel ducting and capped off awaiting the arrival of the subsea cable in Moray Landfall Between October 2016 and April 2017, drilling will be underway from land to the west of Portgordon out to sea. Similarly to the drilling in Caithness, there will be four drills and they will use the same method (HDD) however due to the shallow depth of water it is necessary to drill further out to sea to meet conditions in the marine licence to minimise any environmental impact of the works on the adjacent Spey Bay SSSI. These HDDs will also be lined with steel ducts and await arrival of the subsea cable in This drilling exercise came with significant technical and environmental challenges. The headland at Noss contains a significant and complex array of geological faults that could have compromised the success of the drilling operation. Careful design and planning was needed to ensure the greatest probability of success without additional drilling. At the base of the headland, there is an existing population of seals. Protecting the natural habitat of these seals was of utmost importance and SHE Transmission are glad to report that the drilling was completed without any adverse impact on the seal colony or its habitat. Approximately 1000m off the Noss coastline SHE Transmission s surveys discovered a naturally occurring horse mussel bed. This discovery is the largest known of its type in Scottish waters. Additional surveys in March of this year also found a further potential Horse mussel bed to the north of the original discovery. This drilling exercise also comes with real challenges. The total length of each drill is estimated at 1600m and when it emerges from the bedrock under the sea bed, there may be a significant amount of overlying soft material such as sand, gravel and cobbles which may render the drill as unusable for installing the cable. Should this become apparent, an alternative option is being designed that will involve a pop out location closer to the shore. We are continuing to plan for this in the unlikely event that it occurs. There is also a large population of resident seals near Portgordon. Similarly to Noss, we will be closely monitoring the colony to ensure the work is having no adverse impact on them or their habitat. Horse mussels (Modiolus modiolus) form beds and reefs which stabilise the seabed. In large numbers they support rich feeding grounds and a home for lots of other creatures and due to this they are now considered a priority habitat for UK and Scottish biodiversity strategies and actions plans. Noss Head seals For further information, please visit Scottish Natural Heritage website at: Horse Mussels (Modiolus modiolus) Noss head subsea HDD Popout Portgordon HDD Platform

5 Offshore Cable Installation Offshore Cable Installation The HVDC circuit consists of two electrical cables (+ ive and - ive) bundled together with a fibre optic cable which will be used for communications between SHE Transmission s land based HVDC sites. A diagrammatic representation of the cable bundle is shown below. In preparation for the arrival of the cables, a subsea plough will clear the route of boulders and subsequently create a trench to lay the cable in. The cable laying vessel (CLV) will then bring the cables close to shore. This vessel will deliver each cable into the water where it will be pulled to shore through each duct using a Chinese finger method, aided by divers and other support vessels. The CLV will then head away from shore along the route laying the cable off its stern and into the trench. Due to the length of the route (113km) and the limited capacity of the vessel, it is necessary for the cable to be laid in two separate activities and a cable joint then formed in the Moray Firth. Following the laying of the cables the plough will be brought back and reconfigured to backfill the trench using the seabed material previously excavated during the trenching process. However the seabed is not always soft and there may be areas where there is insufficient material to give the cable a minimum of 1m cover to protect it from unforeseeable events such as contact with anchors. In this situation it will be necessary to use rock to supplement the protection in areas where a minimum of 1m protection has not been provided by backfill material alone. A separate vessel will return and carefully place rock on top of the cable and at the cable joint, to create a berm. This berm may then act as an artificial reef for marine creatures to live in and over time this may become valuable habitat. 3 20'0"W '0"W '0"W '0"N 58 20'0"N '0"N 58 10'0"N Notifications will be provided via Notices to Mariners and Kingfisher Information Services to make other users of the sea aware of the ongoing installation works and in addition, guard vessels will be employed to protect the works and warn approaching vessels of the presence of the works. Kingfisher Information Services improve safety and raise awareness of hazards around the coasts of the UK and Northern Europe. They work with all the offshore industries, including oil & gas, subsea power and telecommunication cables, renewable energy and marine 3 30'0"W 3 10'0"W 2 50'0"W aggregates to bring the latest, most accurate information to the hands of fishermen. Upon completion of the works a final record will be provided to the UK Hydrographic Office so that offshore charts can be updated to reflect the cable circuit. Set out below is the Admiralty Chart of the Moray Firth with the HVDC circuit route super-imposed upon it. 2 30'0"W 2 20'0"W '0"W 2 0'0"W '0"W 1 40'0"W Legen Feature C Rock placement vessel 58 5'0"N In order to understand how the work is progressing and verify that the installation is in accordance with specified requirements, a number of surveys of the seabed will also be undertaken at various stages throughout the installation. 58 0'0"N 57 55'0"N SCAR Plough in trenching configuration 57 50'0"N m.N 57 45'0"N Reproduced by Crown copy 6400 Ordn Project No: Project: Title: Graphical representation of how Multibeam and Sidescan sonar is operated 57 40'0"N 0 A3: 1:350,000 km Cable Route m.E Drawn by: Drawing: Graphical representation of CLV ABB Victoria

6 What happens now and how do I have my say? Your Comments Thank you for taking the time to attend this Information Event. In order to record your views and improve the effectiveness of our consultation, please complete this short feedback form. Please complete in BLOCK CAPITALS. Thank you for taking the time to find out about our plans for the Caithness-Moray offshore works. Your Comments Thank you for taking the time to attend this Information Event. In order to record your views and improve the effectiveness of our consultation, please complete this short feedback form. Please complete in BLOCK CAPITALS. Q1 Did you find our event informative? We appreciate all feedback and thank you for taking the time to provide your comments. You can complete a feedback form today, or you can post it back to us at the address provided. Information can also be provided by our Community Liaison Manager upon request. Q1 Did you find our event informative? Feedback submitted to SHE Transmission will be considered and reviewed by the project team. Q2 How clear did you find the information presented? Comments Comments can be submitted as follows: Q3 In your own words, please describe how well we have defined the separation between the two projects (Caithness HVDC Reinforcement and Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited) Q2 How clear did you find the information presented? At the exhibition today: Complete a Comment Form and give it to a member of the team. By post: Complete a Comments Form and post it to our Liaison Manager (details opposite). Q4 Was the timing and location of our event suitable for you? If not, what would be a more suitable time and location for you? By Complete a Comments Form and it to our Liaison Manager (details opposite). Information can also be posted out to you by our Liaison Manager upon request. Q5 Are there any areas of the works that you would like to know more about? If yes, please provide details Q3 In your own words, please describe how well we have defined the separation between the two projects (Caithness HVDC Reinforcement and Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited) Please provide any comments to us at the earliest opportunity Get in touch with our Community Liaison Manager: Lisa Marchi-Grey lisa.marchi@sse.com Lisa Marchi-Grey SHE Transmission SSE 10 Henderson Road Inverness, IV1 1SN Thank you for taking the time to complete this feedback form. Please hand your completed form in at the event or alternatively by one of the methods below: Post: Lisa Marchi-Grey, SHE Transmission, SSE, 10 Henderson Road, Inverness, IV1 1SN lisa.marchi@sse.com The feedback form and all information provided at the event can also be downloaded from the dedicated website:

7 Q4 Was the timing and location of our event suitable for you? If not, what would be a more suitable time and location for you? Q5 Are there any areas of the works that you would like to know more about? If yes, please provide details Thank you for taking the time to complete this feedback form. Please hand your completed form in at the event or alternatively by one of the methods below: Post: Lisa Marchi-Grey, SHE Transmission, SSE, 10 Henderson Road, Inverness, IV1 1SN lisa.marchi@sse.com The feedback form and all information provided at the event can also be downloaded from the dedicated website: