To simplify the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process associated with the consenting of marine renewable projects, the UK’s National Standard Body, British Standards Institution (BSI) and Innovate UK have commissioned ABPmer to facilitate the development of a document which compiles existing guidance and makes recommendations for best practice.
The aim of this document is to help streamline the complicated EIA process and to get more demonstration and project scale developments in the water. The UK Government and devolved administrations are committed to a significant expansion in electricity generation from renewable energy sources, including offshore renewable energy. As a result there are large scale developments in the planning domain for offshore wind and more recently wave and tidal devices. These projects have the potential to give rise to significant effects on the environment, and so many will require an EIA to be carried out as part of the licensing agreement.