Wave Hub Public Exhibition

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Wave Hub Public Exhibition

• Hayle
• 6 October 2005

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South West Wave Hub

• Why is SWRDA interested in Renewable Energy?
• Economic Opportunity
• Predicted growth in Renewables Worldwide
• First mover advantage
• Support existing new indigenous companies
• Sustainable Development
• Environment meet RE targets respond to
  climate change
• Social securing future energy needs at
  affordable prices
• Relationship with Government
• RDAs seen as able to deliver
• Regional Renewable Energy Strategy

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South West Wave Hub

• Setting the Framework
• Regional Renewable Energy Strategy
• Developing skills and awareness
• Building the South West renewable energy industry
• Deploying renewable energy on the ground

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What is Wave Hub?

• Plug Play
• Infrastructure
• An electrical cable and sub-sea connection point
  10 miles offshore into which groups (arrays) of
  wave energy devices can be connected
• A landside connection to the National Grid for up
  to 20 - 30MW of power
• Proving Zone
• A consented and leased area of sea 2km by 4km
• Four slots able to export 5MW of power each

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An Infrastructure Project

• What is Wave Hub continued
• Component of National Strategy
• Integral to the development of a UK industry
• Wider support for device developers and the Wave
  Industry
• Specific support for PPAs, data collection,
  monitoring and management systems, plus basic
  Operations and Maintenance
• Manufacturing Engineering support from high
  quality advanced engineering, marine and
  electrical engineering companies
• Links to Academia - Universities HE
  institutions (RD and skilled labour)

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Wave Hub a route to commercialisation
RD
NaREC
Demonstration
Initial prototype
EMEC
Refined prototype
Wave Hub
Pre- commercial device
Market entry with commercial product
Market penetration
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Feasibility Studies

• Technical Feasibility Study consultation with
  developers, initial design technical
  specification, site location and general impact
  assessment
• Legal Study consenting and permitting
  considerations.
• Business Case The market, case for wave hub,
  project vehicle, services, finance and wider
  economic impact study (WEIS).

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Site Screening Studies

• SEAPOWER Review and TFS
• North Cornwall best in the South West
• TFS investigated many constraints in a detailed
  screening process, assessing technical,
  environmental and other site specific conditions
• Specific Site Location
• Grid connection is very close to the coast
• Offshore deployment area of 3km x 2km, ten
  nautical miles (20km) from St Ives Head was
  selected.
• Area is in national waters, outside a military
  exercise area and in 50m depth of water a depth
  suitable by most wave energy converter developers

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Technical Details

• What does the Wave Hub Consist of?
• A Termination and Distribution Unit attached to
  four Power Connection Units (transformers
  enclosed in protective casing) and anchored to
  the seabed at approximately 50m depth
• A single 33kV-20MVA cable running from the Wave
  Hub to the shore - buried where possible. The
  cable will be buried through St Ives Bay into the
  beach close to Hayle, and taken under the sand
  dunes to the substation site by means of
  directional drilling and
• A substation, to be constructed at the former
  power station site in Hayle, connecting the cable
  to existing power lines

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Technical Details

• Why this approach?
• Keeping equipment away from marine traffic
• Uses proven technology from the oil gas sector
  (although in a novel application)
• Safety sub-sea equipment needs less maintenance
• Flexibility the capability to deal with a range
  of wave devices, some of which have yet to be
  developed

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Design Development

• How is the design being developed?
• Geophysical Sonar Survey in July to determine
  bathymetry and sediment thickness
• Marine geotechnical investigations starting mid
  October
• Coastal processes study will include scour
  studies
• Terrestrial geotechnical and topographical
  investigations
• Negotiations for connection agreement with
  Western Power Distribution

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Design Development

• Other work on-going
• Mooring anchoring study
• Procurement route may be unusual
• Navigational aids informed by Risk Assessment
• Decommissioning how will equipment eventually
  be removed?

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EIA Environmental Impact Assessment

• EIA is required to support consents for Wave Hub
  under the following legislation
• Coast Protection Act
• Food Environment Protection Act
• Electricity Act
• Environmental Scoping Study (Feb 2005)
• An Environmental Statement will be prepared
  containing
• Baseline environmental information
• Impact assessments and mitigation measures
• Monitoring requirements

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EIA Ecology

• Baseline studies
• Terrestrial phase 1 habitat survey
• Inter-tidal core sampling and biotope mapping
• Sub-tidal benthic grabs, epibenthic trawls and
  biotope mapping
• Impact assessment
• Habitat - disturbance, change or loss
• Reptiles - disturbance, habitat change / loss
• Mitigation
• Natural recovery of habitat
• Reptile translocation

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EIA Ornithology

• Baseline studies
• Offshore bird surveys (March 2005 March 2006)
• Inter-tidal bird surveys (March 2005 - March
  2006)
• Impact assessment
• Bird disturbance during construction
• Offshore bird feeding behaviour
• Mitigation
• Timing of works

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EIA Cetaceans and Elasmobranchs

• Baseline studies
• Cetaceans - TPOD monitoring
• Elasmobranchs - records search and evidence of
  sharks, skates and rays
• Impact assessment
• Disturbance during construction
• Electromagnetic effects on behaviour
• Mitigation
• Timing of works
• Cable burial / shielding

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EIA Cetaceans and Elasmobranchs

• TPOD submersible hydrophone logging echo-location
  clicks
• Feb to June 2005 data - detection positive
  minutes per day
• More porpoises than dolphins
• No seasonal trends in behaviour

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EIA Fisheries

• Baseline studies
• Multi-gear fish ecology surveys
• Commercial fisheries study
• Impact assessment
• Obstruction to fishing by marine traffic
• Obstruction to fishing by cable laying
• Area to be avoided loss of grounds and
  competition
• Unburied cables snagging of gear
• Mitigation
• Timing of works, liaison, cable burial and
  identification

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EIA Coastal Processes

• Baseline studies
• Wave rider buoy
• Numerical modelling
• Impact assessment
• Change to wave climate / surf
• Change to currents
• Potential for sediment erosion / accretion
• Mitigation
• To be determined

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EIA Marine Traffic

• Baseline Studies
• 2 x 14 day traffic surveys (May and August 2005)
• 122 vessels passed through the Wave Hub site, an
  average of 4 per day
• 93 cargo vessels / tankers, 8 recreational
  vessels, 7 fishing vessels and 14 others
• Impact Assessment
• Navigational risk assessment
• Impact on shipping and hazards associated
• Mitigation
• To be determined

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EIA Water and Sediment Quality

• Baseline studies
• Suspended solids concentrations in water
• Metals and TBT concentrations in sediment
• Impact assessment
• Turbidity creation and release of contaminated
  sediment during construction
• Pollution risk due to leaks (e.g. cooling oil)
• Mitigation
• Construction and maintenance methods
• In-built leak detection monitoring

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EIA Landscape

• Baseline studies
• Zone of visual influence
• Selected viewpoints from land
• Impact assessment
• Sub-station changes to site
• Offshore lighting compare to existing lights
• Wave Hub and offshore wave energy devices
• Mitigation
• To be determined

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EIA Archaeology

• Baseline studies
• Records search
• Geophysical survey data
• Impact assessment
• Disturbance of relics
• Disturbance of wrecks and wreckage
• Specialist assessment by Cornwall Historic
  Environment Services
• Mitigation
• 500m buffer zone to avoid wreck sites and
  wreckage along cable route

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EIA Monitoring

• To be decided
• Wave Hub construction
• Terrestrial ecology watching brief (reptile
  translocation)
• Archaeology watching brief (cable route on land)
• Continued wave recording
• Wave Hub operation
• Electromagnetic fields around cable
• Continued wave recording

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South West Wave Hub
Programme Milestones
Sept 2006
Sept 2007
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July 2005
Detailed design, baseline surveys Consents Crown
Estate and other landowner negotiations Developer
selection, vetting and negotiations Delivery
vehicle business plan Grants (DTi, Carbon Trust,
Objective 1) Local economic benefit/supply chain
Monitoring Development management/
decommissioning/ reletting
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Install/commission Wave Hub WEC installation
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Order Cable
Operational
Decommission
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South West Wave Hub

• Developer Selection
• 16 Expressions of Interest
• South West RDA reviewing readiness for wave hub
  and local economic impact

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South West Wave Hub

• Delivery Vehicle
• South West RDA sourcing an organisation to take
  ownership and operation of the Wave Hub

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South West Wave Hub

• Local Economic Benefits
• Strategy being developed by RegenSW with CSEP
• Construction
• Deployment
• Maintenance
• Environmental monitoring
• Technology improvement

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www.WaveHub.co.uk www.Halcrow.com www.RegenSW.co.
uk www.csep.co.uk Contact nick.harrington_at_south
westrda.org.uk taylorae_at_halcrow.com
Nick Harrington 01752 234830
Dr Alan Taylor 01392 444252
Tim German 01209 614974