Haskoning has appointed NASH Maritime, a maritime consultancy within the APEM Group, to lead the shipping and navigation assessment for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Gwynt Glas floating offshore wind project in the UK, developed by a joint venture between EDF Power Solutions and ESB.
Within its scope of work, NASH will ensure that all shipping and navigation impacts are fully identified, assessed and appropriate mitigations put in place through a Navigation Risk Assessment (NRA). This will be supported through extensive data collection and engagement with stakeholders to gather insights and feedback, in full compliance with the requirements of relevant guidance, APEM Group said in a press release on 26 November.
The maritime consultancy has already been involved in floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea, including Erebus and White Cross, and is also advising the Crown Estate on Round 5 shipping and navigation matters.
The Gwynt Glas joint venture announced earlier this month that it had selected Haskoning to lead the EIA process for the floating wind project. The EIA is necessary to secure the Development Consent Order (DCO) required for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project in the UK and, as the project is located in Welsh waters, the required licensing from Natural Resources Wales.
The EDF-ESB joint venture was selected as one of the two preferred bidders in the Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5 on 12 June and was awarded 1.5 GW of capacity in its project development area (PDA) for an annual option fee of GBP 350/MW (approximately EUR 410/MW).
The developer entered into a lease agreement for the Gwynt Glas floating wind project with the UK seabed manager in October.
The floating wind farms selected in Round 5 are planned to be operational in the mid-2030s, subject to developers securing all necessary permits.