Offshore Wind Worldwide Regulatory Framework in Selected Countries 5th Edition 2024 - Flipbook - Page 342
United Kingdom
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Under the terms of the Directive, where a
plan or project is likely to have a significant
effect on a European site, a competent
authority must assess its implications for
the conservation objectives of the relevant
sites, before deciding to undertake, consent to or otherwise authorise the plan or
project.
In the marine environment the Habitats Directive is given effect in UK law through The
Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, The Conservation of Offshore
Marine Habitats and Species Regulations
2017 and The Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland)
1995 (as amended), collectively referred to
as the ‘Habitats Regulations’.
Within the meaning of the Habitats Regulations, The Crown Estate’s offshore wind leasing rounds are plans and The Crown Estate
is a competent authority. The Crown Estate
must, therefore, undertake a Plan-Level HRA
of its leasing plans, which could result in the
following outcomes:
the leasing plan not adversely affecting the
integrity of the European sites concerned;
•
mitigation measures being required
to ensure that the leasing plan will not
adversely affecting the integrity of the
European sites concerned; or
•
the leasing plan adversely affecting the
integrity of the European sites concerned, even with mitigation measures in
which case one or more projects in the
leasing plan may not be able to proceed.
For Round 5, a multi-million-pound programme of marine surveys of the designated areas was launched and a Plan-Level
HRA was carried out. This is the first time
that The Crown Estate has undertaken the
HRA ahead of an offshore wind leasing process, and it was designed to give developers
early visibility of the steps they will need to
take to ensure conformity with the HRA.
“The HRA will shape developers’ activity and
direct them to undertake specific measures
to mitigate the impact of their construction
on birds and other marine wildlife,” The
Crown Estate said on 12 February 2024,
when it announced that it has completed its
Plan-Level HRA.34
(c) Contracts for Difference
New offshore wind projects are currently
eligible to compete for UK government support through Contract for Difference (CfD)
auctions.
The CfD scheme is the UK government’s
main mechanism for supporting low-carbon
electricity generation. CfDs incentivise investment in renewable energy by providing
developers of projects with high upfront
costs and long lifetimes with direct protection from volatile wholesale electricity prices,
and they protect consumers from paying
increased support costs when electricity
prices are high.
34 https://www.offshorewind.biz/2024/02/29/the-crown-estate-opens-4-5-gw-celtic-sea-floating-wind-seabed-leasing-round/.
