Offshore renewable energy interests - wind, wave and tide - represent an increasingly important response to tackling the dual challenges of climate change and national energy security.
The marine aggregate industry operates in most English and Welsh offshore regions where marine renewable energy interests are being investigated and developed. As a consequence, there are some broad issues that may arise as both interests seek to develop and operate in close proximity to one another.
Beyond the immediate potential for interaction with current and future marine aggregate interests through the placing of structures and cables, there is also the potential for less obvious operational impacts.
A dredging licence producing 1 million tonnes a year would see 200 cargoes of 5,000 tonnes being dredged - each representing 4-8 hours on site. Vessels therefore require safe access to the licence areas and the flexibility to navigate safely within a licence while dredging operations are underway.
The potential for interaction with marine aggregate operations also needs to be considered even if a potential offshore renewable site may appear to be a considerable distance from such interests. Some 30 marine aggregate dredgers operate in British coastal waters, producing over 20 million tonnes of marine aggregate every year. This represents some 7000 cargoes being dredged – equivalent to 4-5 cargoes per vessel every week. Dredgers are therefore constantly transiting British coastal waters, as they navigate between production licence areas and the ports being supplied.
To assist with the consideration of potential indirect impacts on marine aggregate interests, BMAPA has generated a series of charts to show the extent of dredger transit routes between member companies production licence areas and the ports that are supplied relative to Round 1, 2 and 3 offshore wind interests.
The dredger transit routes themselves are also available to be downloaded for third party use in Mapinfo and ArcView GIS.
BMAPA is happy to act as a first point of contact for any offshore energy consultation enquiries concerning marine aggregate interests.: |