Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm ………………………………………………………..……
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Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm ………………………………………………………..…… Southern North Sea candidate Special Area of Conservation (SNS cSAC): Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment Date: May 2018 Document No: 2505-TKN-CON-K-RA-0016 Rev: 03 CONFIDENTIAL SNS cSAC Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment Document Number: 2505-TKN-CON-K-RA-0016 Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm Rev 01 Company: Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Asset: Whole Asset Farm Project: Whole Wind Farm Sub Project/Package: Document Title or Southern North Sea candidate Special Area of Conservation: Report to Inform Description: Appropriate Assessment 2505-TKN-CON-K-RA-0016 Document Number: Contractor Ref No: The document Originator shall complete this Cover Sheet and may give guidance below on any actions required by the recipient(s). The document Checker and Approver must not be the same person. The Document Author and Approver must not be the same person. The Approver must not be less senior than the Author. This document and any information therein are confidential property of Triton Knoll and without infringement neither the whole nor any extract may be disclosed, loaned, copied or used for manufacturing, provision of services or other purposes whatsoever without prior written consent of the Triton Knoll, and no liability is accepted for loss or damage from any cause whatsoever from the use of the document. Triton Knoll retains the right to alter the document at any time unless a written statement to the contrary has been appended 03 24/04/2018 Issued for information to NE - Sally Kazer Tim Golding Penny Pickett Updated following BEIS comments (GoBe) (GoBe) (TK) 02 18/05/18 Issued for information to NE - Sally Kazer Tim Golding Melissa Read Updated following NE comments (GoBe) (GoBe) (TK) 01 19/02/2018 Issued for information to BEIS & NE Sophie Cousens Tim Golding Penny Pickett (GoBe) (GoBe) (TK) Rev No. Date Status/Reason for Issue Author Checked by Approved by Page 2 of 84 SNS cSAC Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment Document Number: 2505-TKN-CON-K-RA-0016 Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm Rev 01 CONTENTS Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 6 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Purpose of the Report ........................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Background to the Project .................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Need for the Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment .................................................................... 10 1.4 Structure of the Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment .............................................................. 11 1.5 HRA Process ........................................................................................................................................ 12 1.5.1 Legislative Context ..................................................................................................................... 12 1.5.2 Approach to this Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment ..................................................... 12 2 Proposed Development ................................................................................................................ 14 2.1 Project Description .............................................................................................................................. 14 2.1.1 Turbine layout ............................................................................................................................ 15 2.1.2 Construction timing .................................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Worst Case Scenario ........................................................................................................................... 17 2.3 Mitigation ............................................................................................................................................ 19 2.4 Seasonal Aspects ................................................................................................................................. 19 3 Southern North Sea cSAC .............................................................................................................. 20 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 20 3.2 Site Information .................................................................................................................................. 21 3.3 Conservation Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 22 3.3.1 The Species is a Viable Component of the Site .......................................................................... 23 3.3.2 No Significant Disturbance of the Species within the Site.......................................................... 23 3.3.3 The Supporting Habitats and Processes relevant to Harbour Porpoise and their Prey are Maintained ................................................................................................................................................... 26 3.4 Potential Effects .................................................................................................................................. 26 3.4.1 Key literature .............................................................................................................................. 26 3.4.2 Marine Mammal Assessments for TKOWF ................................................................................. 28 3.5 Consideration of the Assessment at Site and Management Unit Level .............................................. 29 3.6 Assumptions of this Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment ........................................................ 30 3.7 Consultation ........................................................................................................................................ 30 4 Summary of Existing Baseline ....................................................................................................... 31 5 Likely Significant Effect Test Alone and In-Combination .............................................................. 32 5.1 The Identification of Likely Significant Effect ...................................................................................... 32 5.2 Screening Undertaken in the HRA Report ........................................................................................... 32 5.2.1 Construction phase..................................................................................................................... 32 5.2.2 Operation and maintenance phase ............................................................................................ 32 Page 3 of 84 SNS cSAC Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment Document Number: 2505-TKN-CON-K-RA-0016 Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm Rev 01 5.2.3 Decommissioning Phase ............................................................................................................. 32 5.2.4 Need to revisit the LSE Screening process .................................................................................. 33 5.3 Screening for LSE Alone and In-combination – Southern North Sea cSAC .......................................... 33 5.3.1 Underwater Noise ...................................................................................................................... 33 5.3.2 Collision Risk ............................................................................................................................... 37 5.3.3 Prey Availability .......................................................................................................................... 37 5.3.4 EMF ............................................................................................................................................. 39 5.3.5 Summary of the Potential for LSE Alone .................................................................................... 39 6 Assessment of Adverse Effect for Triton Knoll Alone ................................................................... 40 6.1 Approach to Assessment ..................................................................................................................... 40 6.1.1 The Species is a Viable Component of the Site .......................................................................... 40 6.1.2 No Significant Disturbance of the Species within the Site.......................................................... 42 6.1.3 Consideration of Supporting Habitats and Processes Relevant to Harbour Porpoise and the Maintenance of their Prey ........................................................................................................................... 53 6.2 Conclusion of Potential for Adverse Effect from the Project Alone .................................................... 54 7 In-Combination Assessment of Adverse Effect ............................................................................. 55 7.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................