TEMPLE HILL WIND FARM ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT VOLUME 1: MAIN TEXT Produced by Stephenson Halliday September 2013 VOLUME 1: MAIN TEXT Contents 1 Introduction 2 Approach to the Environmental Impact Assessment 3 Site Selection and Design 4 Project Description 5 Planning Policy 6 Landscape and Visual 7 Ecology 8 Ornithology 9 Noise 10 Historic Environment 11 Ground Conditions 12 Hydrology and Hydrogeology 13 Access, Traffic and Transportation 14 Aviation 15 Telecommunications and Television 16 Socio-Economic Effects 17 Shadow Flicker 18 Summary of Predicted Effects and Conclusions RWE Npower Renewables Ltd Temple Hill Wind Farm Environmental Statement 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1.1.1 This Environmental Statement (ES) has been prepared by Stephenson Halliday (SH) on behalf of RWE Npower Renewables Ltd (RWE NRL) to accompany an application for planning permission submitted to South Kesteven District Council (SKDC). 1.1.2 The application seeks consent under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for the erection of 5 wind turbines up to 126.5m to blade tip and construction of associated infrastructure on land at Temple Hill, between Grantham and Newark-on-Trent (‘the Development’). Further detail on the Development is provided in Chapter 4: Project Description. 1.1.3 The ES assesses the likely significant effects of the Development in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011. 1.1.4 The site is located in the South Kesteven administrative area approximately 7km south east of Newark-on-Trent and 9km north of Grantham (unless otherwise stated, distances are measured from the closest turbine as the primary element of the Development and assessment). The nearest settlements to the Development are Brandon approximately 1.1km north east, Stubton 1.5km north west, Gelston 2.6km south east and Hough-on-the-Hill 2.9km east. The East Coast Main Line passes within approximately 600m to the south west of the Development and the A1 passes within approximately 5.3km to the west. 1.1.5 The site is currently under intensive arable cultivation and comprises large scale arable fields with very few hedgerows and limited woodland cover. The topography of the site and immediate area is open and broadly flat ranging from 19m - 25m AOD. 1.1.6 The site location is illustrated in Volume 2, Figure 1.1. 1.1.7 Further detail on the site is provided in Chapter 3: Site Selection and Design. 1.2 THE APPLICANT 1.2.1 RWE NRL (‘the applicant’) is one of the UK’s leading renewable energy companies, dedicated to generating electricity using sustainable and Stephenson Halliday 1 - 1 RWE Npower Renewables Ltd Temple Hill Wind Farm Environmental Statement environmentally friendly resources. RWE NRL is the leading developer and operator of onshore and offshore wind farms in the UK, with over 18 years of experience in the wind energy market. The company currently manages an on- shore operating portfolio of 25 wind farms totalling 470 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity. 1.3 PROJECT DRIVERS: THE NEED FOR RENEWABLES 1.3.1 Whilst the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that local planning authorities should ‘not require applicants for energy development to demonstrate the overall need for renewable or low carbon energy’, it is considered appropriate here to examine the drivers for the Development to set the context for the application, and its benefits. 1.3.2 UK national energy policy is driven by both national and global influences and targets. There are two primary policy goals, being the need to address climate change and the need to ensure security of supply. There is international government recognition that climate change is happening, that it is being accelerated by human activity and that urgent changes need to be made to address its causes. In December 1997 the UK signed the “Kyoto Protocol”, a legally binding international agreement under which the UK agreed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (primarily CO2) by 12.5% relative to 1990 levels for the period 2008-2012. In its acknowledgement of climate change, the UK Government also recognises the need to secure future domestic power supplies in the context of anticipated increased demand for electricity production, the closure of a number of existing generating stations and to reduce dependence on fossil fuels for which there will be increasing competition and less stable sources of supply. 1.3.3 As part of its ongoing commitment to addressing climate change, the UK Government has signed up to the EU Renewable Energy Directive 2009. The UK target within this is to produce 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. This target applies to all energy sources. The Government has produced a Renewable Energy Strategy, published July 2009, which indicates how this legally binding target is to be achieved. The strategy envisages that the greatest contribution would come from electricity production with over 30% of electricity being produced from renewable sources, 12% of heat from renewable sources and 10% of transport energy needs to be met by renewables. The Carbon Plan, Stephenson Halliday 1 - 2 RWE Npower Renewables Ltd Temple Hill Wind Farm Environmental Statement published in December 2011, illustrates the current Government’s aims for decarbonising energy supplies. It indicates that ‘With the potential electrification of heating, transport and industrial processes, average electricity demand may rise by between 30% and 60%. We may need as much as double today’s electricity capacity to deal with peak demand. Electricity is likely to be produced from three main low carbon sources: renewable energy, particularly onshore and offshore wind farms; a new generation of nuclear power stations; and gas and coal-fired power stations fitted with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology.’ 1.3.4 The Development is a direct response to the encouragement provided by central government for the rapid deployment of renewable energy schemes throughout the UK. 1.4 THE BENEFITS OF THE DEVELOPMENT 1.4.1 Further to playing an important role in contributing to the UK’s target of obtaining 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, the Development also has the following benefits, as detailed below: Environmental Benefits Energy Security Benefits Community Benefits Environmental Benefits 1.4.2 Output predictions for the Development take into account the variable nature of the wind, down time of the turbines due to maintenance and losses that are inherent in the design. Modern wind farms generate approximately 80% of the time although not always at maximum output. Modern wind turbines are highly efficient at converting available wind energy into electricity. The capacity factor is a term used to describe the average energy output related to the maximum possible output of the wind farm if the generators were operating to their rated capacity over the same period. A wind turbine’s generator is deliberately sized above the average output level to maximise generation in good winds. Stephenson Halliday 1 - 3 RWE Npower Renewables Ltd Temple Hill Wind Farm Environmental Statement 1.4.3 It is estimated that the Development would produce between 27,025MWh and 32,790MWhi per year based on an assumed installed capacity of up to 15MW. This is enough electricity to supply the average annual electricity needs of between 5,800 and 7,000 UK homes each year. This is based on the UK average annual domestic electricity consumption of approximately 4,700kWhii, over the life of the Development this figure may change as average domestic electricity consumption changes. 1.4.4 Every kilowatt hour of electricity produced by the Development feeds in to the electricity network whenever it is produced. Wind energy reduces the demand for electricity generated by conventional power stations (often coal or gas) which vary their output to balance supply and demand on the network. Wind energy saves the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) predominantly through reduced consumption of a combination of both coal and gas. It is difficult to predict exactly what volume of CO2 emissions the Development would prevent as the amount of CO2 generated by a varying mix of conventional sources changes from year to year. For the stated Development annual output, it is anticipated to be a saving of at least 10,600 tonnes of CO2 per year, with a theoretic maximum of 29,900 tonnes. In practice, the figure is likely to lie somewhere between the two.iii i Energy predicted to be generated by the proposal is derived using wind speeds monitored in the local area and correlating to a Meteorological Office station providing longer term data. This enables a calculation to be made to estimate the average annual energy production for the site based on 5 turbines each of rated capacity of between 1.8MW and 3MW. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent or emissions savings figures may change as further data are gathered. ii Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4700 kWh. This figure is supported by recent domestic electricity consumption data available from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics and household estimates and projections from the UK Statistics Authority. iii The figure for CO2 savings depends on which source of electricity generation wind power displaces at any given time during the year. This range reflects CO2 displacement factors with respect to gas-fired and coal-fired generation. It should be noted that future changes in the power generating mix and fuel costs in the UK may result in changes to these figures over time. Calculations assume emissions of 392g CO2 / kWh for gas generated electricity and 912g CO2 / kWh for coal generated electricity as stated in The Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2012.