Perspective - Royal Haskoning in the UK

The Future
UK Wind Energy
Perspective

Wind energy trends
Wind energy projects in the UK are entering a new phase. Turbines are getting larger, capacity
greater, associated infrastructure more complex, regulations more challenging, and – for offshore
developments – waters deeper.
Royal HaskoningDHV has been working at the forefront of the wind industry since its inception, from
early onshore wind farms and Round 1 offshore projects, to the giant offshore farms planned as part of
Round 3. The UK currently leads the world in offshore wind development.
Royal HaskoningDHV has expanded and shaped its experienced renewables team to handle the
demands of this fast-paced wind industry. We make our experience count, and we offer an unrivalled
service covering a wealth of specialist skills. Working alongside developers, from early site prospecting
through to the construction and operational phase, has equipped Royal HaskoningDHV with the
knowledge to provide expert solutions for challenging issues such as consenting, transport and
logistics, health and safety – and many more. We are flexible, experienced, responsive, and ready to
tackle new challenges as more ground-breaking projects are taken forward.
Royal HaskoningDHV is working on onshore and offshore wind energy sites culminating in the
realisation of major headline projects:
Contents
Wind energy trends 3
Dealing with EIA and consents 4
Managing risk offshore 6
Site assessment 8
Grid connections 10
Transport & logistics 12
Dedicated wind energy team 14
Royal HaskoningDHV’s wind energy achievements 16
n Providing a range of consultancy support from
project inception to completion of the Thanet
Offshore Wind Farm, currently the world’s
largest operational wind farm;
n Lead Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
consultant for the up to 560MW Dudgeon
Offshore Wind Farm, including a 45km onshore
grid connection and one of Europe’s largest
onshore substations;
n EIA Co-ordinator for offshore and onshore
elements of the first project development
phase of the Dogger Bank and Firth of Forth
Round 3 Zones;
n To see just some of Royal HaskoningDHV’s
Wind Energy achievements turn to page 16.
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Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
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Dealing with EIA and consents
Royal HaskoningDHV is probably best known for the work it does on Environmental Impact
Assessments (EIA) for wind energy projects, and rightly so. To date, every offshore wind
energy project for which Royal HaskoningDHV has produced the EIA has been consented
first time.
Royal HaskoningDHV recognises the paramount importance of maintaining flexibility in
project design and within the supply chain at the development stage. We work closely
with project engineering teams to ensure that this flexibility is maintained within a robust
framework of EIA. This provides assurance to regulators and stakeholders that all project
permutations are assessed and that the developer understands and can mitigate the
impacts that arise once the final design has been fixed, thus reducing consenting risk. In
addition, Royal HaskoningDHV recognises that cumulative impacts are now a much more
significant element of the consenting process. We are seeing more instances, both onshore
and offshore, of multiple projects being developed in the same broad area. This brings
new challenges for developers; in particular in relation to potential cumulative impacts on
European designated sites.
The range of technical and support services for EIA that we provide puts us in a unique
position to offer our clients a full end-to-end service, offering expert consultancy and
engineering solutions for every aspect of wind energy developments. The experts in our inhouse
team can cover ecology, hydrogeology, coastal modelling, noise, air quality, transport,
health and safety and a number of other specialist disciplines to help ensure the consenting
process is as smooth as possible.
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Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
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Managing risk offshore
Developers are bound by the Construction Design & Management (CDM) Regulations 2007, which apply to all projects
involving construction work carried out in Britain and its territorial waters. The difficulty is that this legislation has most
often been applied to land-based projects, which do not always readily integrate with marine activities and maritime
legislation.
The regulations therefore need to be tailored to meet the
unique challenges raised by offshore wind energy projects,
such as: managing the risk of deep water, suitability of
vessels, heavy lifting operations, competence of workforce,
and structural integrity of the turbines and other support
structures, as well as the logistics of getting materials and
personnel out to the site under normal circumstances and
in an emergency.
As wind farm sites are proposed ever further offshore
developers will have to use larger vessels for installation
and to support maintenance. Royal HaskoningDHV is
working at Sheringham Shoal to overcome issues associated
with using an anchored, rather than a jacked-up vessel.
Whilst anchored vessels can work in deeper waters they
are subject to wave and tidal motion which makes them
more difficult to keep in position, involving the greater risks
associated with frequent anchor handling. Issues such as
this, and how to replace the use of divers who are currently
regularly used to fine-tune installations, will become more
difficult to overcome as the Round 3 wind farms start their
construction phase.
The Royal HaskoningDHV team is primed to minimise and manage the risks associated with wind farm development, taking
into account existing conditions and those that the industry will face with the planned Round 3 projects. We want the wind
industry to be renowned as a safe environment for its workers, and we encourage best practice in this area through the
use of Hazid and Hazops workshops. Hazids (Hazard Identification) workshops bring together all the primary players on a
development to identify potential hazards, attribute responsibility to a person/contractor, and explore how those hazards
can be mitigated. Hazops (Hazard Operation) workshops are a more process-driven exercise which looks at the implications
of different scenarios. Conducting these workshops at the outset of a development is critical to establishing what the risks
are and taking early steps to mitigate them.
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Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
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Site assessment
Royal HaskoningDHV is drawing on its coastal and marine experience to support the offshore
wind industry. Early assessment of coastal processes and seabed conditions can assist a potential
development to identify a preferred site or layout, determine design parameters and assess the likely
risk posed by scour, mobile seabed sediments and features such as sandwaves.
Royal HaskoningDHV has a heritage of
over 100 years of working with maritime
industries to provide metocean, geophysical
and geomorphological analysis of the sea
bed to inform the design or assessment
of the environmental impacts of maritime
infrastructure.
Royal HaskoningDHV’s team uses coastal
modelling techniques, supported by desk-based
analysis, and interpretation of metocean and
geophysical surveys to understand the seabed
and the physical processes that drive the system.
By undertaking analysis of historic maps and
charts, it is also possible to understand the
longer term changes at a particular site. These
techniques are also used to ensure that clients
have a comprehensive assessment of Coastal
Process Impacts in their EIA.
The company uses the latest 2D and 3D
modelling software and data analysis techniques
for waves and tides to help developers ‘futureproof’
their design of structures that will be
placed on the seabed; for example by assessing
the loading conditions and how wave forces and
tidal currents may induce processes of seabed
scour which could affect foundations. In some
cases the seabed can alter significantly in a short
space of time, so it is crucial that developers are
aware of the variability to expect in the seabed
where they plan to site an offshore wind farm.
When it comes to foundations, as the waters
where offshore wind farms are sited become
deeper, new solutions need to be found. The
traditional approach of constructing support
structures using monopile foundations
will become less viable and uneconomical.
Alternative, often more complex construction
methods will present more complex risk
management challenges. We are tackling these
issues head-on using our far-ranging technical
expertise.
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Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
Photograph courtesy of Vattenfall Wind Power Ltd
Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
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Grid connections
Onshore and offshore grid connections can be substantial projects in their own right,
with their own complex barriers to consent. Royal HaskoningDHV is a UK market leader
in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of new onshore buried cable systems and
substation infrastructure. We have recently led the EIA studies for the offshore and onshore
transmission system for the Dudgeon offshore wind farm, including 45km of onshore
buried cables and one of Europe’s largest substations. This experience is being carried over
into Round 3, where we are providing both onshore and offshore EIA services to the first
phases of Seagreen’s Firth of Forth and Forewind’s Dogger Bank developments.
The planned Round 3 offshore wind farms will dwarf anything the UK has done before.
Transmission of electricity will occur over greater distances, potentially creating a range
of environmental, engineering and health and safety challenges to be overcome before
construction. Our team of experts on grid connections will assess the environmental,
technical and health and safety implications of burying cables in the seabed, from interarray
to export cables, inter-connecting the devices and running the main export cable back
to the grid connection point onshore.
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Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
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Transport & logistics
One of the issues that inevitably arises when creating onshore wind farms or when transporting certain offshore wind farm
components by road is ensuring safe road access to the site, especially regarding the routing of construction traffic and the
abnormal loads carrying turbine components. With extended periods of construction work often necessary, it is vital that
vehicles of various sizes are able to get to the site without causing undue disruption on the local road network.
Royal HaskoningDHV’s expertise in transport and logistics
for the wind industry speaks for itself – we have never had a
project rejected on highway issues.
It’s important to consider every aspect of the route that
construction traffic and turbine transporters will take.
This means looking at the suitability of the existing road
alignment, including whether corners and junctions can be
negotiated by long vehicles. Attention should also be given
to the height of bridges, overhead cables and trees. You also
have to look beyond the existing conditions, for example by
finding out whether road or utility works are planned for the
route during the likely construction period of the wind farm.
Our team is able to advise clients on alternative turbine
choices if the highways infrastructure and access
arrangements will not allow their first choice of turbine.
Getting turbine components out of the ports that they dock
in can be the first challenge, and the wealth of experience
Royal HaskoningDHV has with working with, and designing,
ports often comes into its own.
Picture courtesy of Andover Trailers Ltd
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Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
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Dedicated wind energy team
Royal HaskoningDHV’s large pan-European renewables team brings together
decades of invaluable experience in the wind industry.
Alistair Davison, Royal HaskoningDHV’s Head of Renewables, leads a dedicated
wind energy team of more than 30 environmental scientists, EIA practitioners,
engineers and technicians, supported by leading experts working in related
disciplines such as marine engineering, safety & risk management, ecology and
transportation assessment.
This extensive in-house capacity and level of technical expertise equips us
with the skills and knowledge to help our clients succeed in ever-challenging
environments.
Alistair Davison says: “Wind energy developers want the reassurance of working
with experts who can offer them solutions and practical guidance. We back up
our knowledge of the wind energy industry with expertise gained from working
with more mature sectors that can lend significant insights into the challenges
the new, bigger wind energy projects are facing”.
We are flexible, responsive, passionate and innovative, and we have an unrivalled
set of specialist skills to draw upon.
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Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
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Royal HaskoningDHV’s Wind Energy Achievements
Royal HaskoningDHV teams are currently working on major onshore and offshore wind energy projects, including the
biggest UK wind energy projects and the biggest grid connection in the UK. You may be surprised at where else you will
find Royal HaskoningDHV experts.
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Onshore wind farms
Offshore wind farms
1 Stornaway Onshore Wind Farm EIA
Client: AMEC
2 Limekiln Onshore Wind Farm EIA
Client: Infinergy
3 Glen Ullnish Onshore Wind Farm
Client: Community Wind Farm Alliance
4 Dorenell Onshore Wind Farm
Client: Infinergy
5 Wind Farm feasibility studies
Grangemouth Client: BP
6 Lambdoughty Onshore Wind Farm
access study Client: Infinergy
7 Smulgedon Wind Farm Geology and
Peat Slide Risk Assessment Client:
Arcus Renewable Energy Consulting
8 Hawthorn Wind Farm Resubmittal
Client: SLP Energy
9 Furness Onshore Wind Farm EIA
Client: Infinergy
10 West Rudham Onshore Wind Farm,
Scoping Studies and Ecological Surveys
Client: Enertrag UK Ltd.
11 Chedburgh Onshore Wind Farm,
Scoping Studies and Ecological Surveys
Client: Enertrag UK Ltd.
12 North Pickenham Onshore Wind
Farm EIA
Access Studies and Environmental
Action Plan Client: Enertrag UK Ltd.
13 Guestwick Onshore Wind Farm EIA
Access Studies and Public Enquiry
Client: Enertrag UK Ltd.
14 Hembsby Onshore Wind Farm
Client: SLP Energy
15 Tivetshall Wind Farm construction and
access survey Client: Enertag UK
16 Kessingland Onshore Wind Farm
Planning Appraisal Client: SLP Energy
17 Wear Point Onshore Wind Farm
Scoping EIA and Planning Application
Client: Infinergy
18 West Ashton Wind Turbines EIA
Client: The Cornwall Light and Power
Company Ltd.
19 Isle of Grain Wind Farm, Consenting
and Access Studies Client: BP Gas
Power and Renewables
20 Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm
Extension Feasibility, EIA and
Consenting Support Client: Vattenfall
21 Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, EIA and
Environmental Liaison Officer for
offshore and onshore construction
works and monitoring Client: Thanet
Offshore Wind Ltd.
22 Thanet Offshore Wind Farm Grid
Connection Client: Thanet Offshore
Wind Ltd.
23 Atlantic Array Feasibility Studies.
Client: RWE npower renewables
24 Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm
Environmental Liason Officer
Client: Greater Gabbard Offshore
Winds Ltd.
25 Galloper Offshore Wind Farm EIA
Client: SSE Renewables & RWE npower
renewables
26 Inner Dowsing Offshore Wind Farm,
Coastal Process and Geotechnical
Studies Client: Offshore Wind
Energy Ltd.
27 Sheringham Shoal Onshore and
Offshore Wind Farm EIA, Environmental
Liason CDM Coordination Client: Scira
28 Cromer Offshore Wind Farm, Coastal
Process, Geotechnical Studies and EIA
Client: Enertrag UK Ltd.
29 Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm and
Onshore Grid Connection, EIA and
Consenting Client: Dudgeon Offshore
Wind Ltd.
30 Dogger Bank Phase 1 Offshore Wind
Farm and Grid Connection, EIA
coordinator for Tranche A
Client: Forewind
31 Firth of Forth Offshore Wind Farm
Onshore and Offshore EIA
Client: Seagreen Wind Energy
32 East Anglia 3 and 4 Offshore wind
farms, EIA, survey support and
consenting support. Client: East Anglia
Offshore Wind Ltd
33 Navitus Bay Windpark, Support to
the client’s project development and
consenting teams. Client: Navitus Bay
Development Ltd.
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Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
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To find out how Royal HaskoningDHV can bring its
experience and expertise to bear on your wind energy
project contact Alistair Davison on 0131 555 0506 or
alistair.davison@rhdhv.com
For further information about Royal HaskoningDHV,
please visit our website at www.royalhaskoningdhv.com
Keep up to date with our news at:
www.twitter.com/rhdhv_uk
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Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
Royal HaskoningDHV Perspective UK Wind Energy
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With its headquarters in Amersfoort, The Netherlands,
Royal HaskoningDHV is an independent, international
project management, engineering and consultancy service
provider. Ranking globally in the top 10 of independently
owned, non-listed companies and top 40 overall, the
Company’s 8,000 staff provide services across the world
from more than 100 offices in over 35 countries.
royalhaskoningdhv.com