The Galway Bay Cable Project Environmental Report

Home , Aran Islands, Galway Bay, Inisheer, Inishmaan, Inishmore, Inverin

24th April 2013

Version and comments Date Note Author 24/04/2013 Final edits & changes made and The Marine Institute accepted

ii Table of Contents

1. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY ...... 1

1.1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

1.2. THE PROJECT ...... 1

1.3. OFFSHORE ROUTE SELECTION AND LANDFALL OPTIONS ...... 2

1.4. INSTALLATION ...... 2

1.5. IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT ...... 3 1.5.1. Human Activity ...... 3 1.5.2. Designated Conservation Sites ...... 3 1.5.3. Fauna ...... 4 1.5.4. Reef habitats ...... 4 1.5.5. Cultural Heritage ...... 5

2. INTRODUCTION ...... 6

2.1. RATIONALE FOR CABLE PROJECT IN GALWAY BAY ...... 6

2.2. BACKGROUND ...... 9

2.3. WAVE ENERGY CONVERTERS (WECS) ...... 11

2.4. CURRENT CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL OF DEVICES FOR TESTING AT THE ¼-SCALE SITE IN GALWAY BAY ...... 13 2.4.1. Insurance ...... 13 2.4.2. Hull Construction/Certification ...... 13 2.4.3. Mooring System ...... 14 2.4.4. Deployment and Recovery Strategy ...... 14 2.4.5. Technical ...... 14 2.4.6. Safety ...... 14

2.5. OUTLINE PROCEDURE FOR DEPLOYMENT OF DEVICES AT THE WAVE ENERGY TEST SITE IN SPIDDAL ...... 16

2.6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THE DATA ...... 17

2.7. CONTRIBUTORS...... 18

2.8. PRE-LICENCE APPLICATION INFORMAL CONSULTATION ...... 22

3. CONSIDERATION OF OFFSHORE ROUTE SELECTION AND LANDFALL OPTIONS ...... 24

3.1. LANDFALL SITES & ONSHORE LOCATION ...... 24

3.2. CABLE END EQUIPMENT (CEE) LOCATION ...... 28

3.3. FINAL CABLE ROUTE SELECTION ...... 28

4. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED WORKS ...... 30

4.1. SHORE TERMINAL ...... 30

4.2. ONSHORE CABLE & SHORE CONNECTION ...... 31

4.3. SYSTEM GROUND ...... 33

iii 4.4. SUBSEA CABLE ...... 34

4.5. CABLE END EQUIPMENT (CEE) & TEST BERTHS ...... 37

4.6. CABLE INSTALLATION ...... 38

5. BATHYMETRY & SEABED CONDITIONS ...... 41

5.1. EXISTING ENVIRONMENT ...... 41 5.1.1. Bathymetry ...... 41 5.1.2. Seabed Topography ...... 41 5.1.3. Seabed Sediments ...... 42 5.1.4. Shallow Geology ...... 44

5.2. IMPACTS ...... 46 5.2.1. Seabed Topography ...... 46 5.2.2. Seabed Sediments ...... 46

6. OCEANOGRAPHY ...... 47

6.1. EXISTING ENVIRONMENT ...... 47 6.1.1. Temperature & Salinity ...... 47 6.1.2. Tides & Currents ...... 47 6.1.3. Wave climate ...... 50

6.2. IMPACTS ...... 51

7. ECOLOGY ...... 52

7.1. EXISTING ENVIRONMENT ...... 52 7.1.1. Designated Conservation Sites ...... 52 7.1.2. Intertidal Communities ...... 54 7.1.3. Subtidal Communities ...... 54 7.1.4. Fish Communities ...... 55 7.1.5. Marine Mammals ...... 56 7.1.6. Seabirds & Waterfowl ...... 63

7.2. IMPACTS ...... 65 7.2.1. Designated Conservation Sites ...... 65 7.2.2. Intertidal Community...... 65 7.2.3. Subtidal Communities ...... 65 7.2.4. Fish Communities ...... 65 7.2.5. Marine Mammals ...... 66 7.2.6. Seabirds & Waterfowl ...... 68

8. ARCHAEOLOGY & CULTURAL HERITAGE ...... 70

8.1. EXISTING ENVIRONMENT ...... 70

iv 8.1.1. Subtidal Cable Route ...... 71

8.2. IMPACTS ...... 71

9. HUMAN ACTIVITIES ...... 72

9.1. EXISTING ENVIRONMENT ...... 72 9.1.1. Commercial Fishing & Aquaculture Activities ...... 72 9.1.2. Tourism & Leisure Activities...... 75

9.2. IMPACTS ...... 76 9.2.1. Commercial Fishing & Aquaculture Activities ...... 76 9.2.2. Tourism & Leisure Activities...... 77

10. ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS (EMF) ...... 78

11. DECOMMISSIONING ...... 80

12. MITIGATION MEASURES ...... 81

13. CONCLUSIONS ...... 84

14. REFERENCES ...... 88

15. GLOSSARY OF TERMS ...... 95

v List of Figures

FIGURE 2-1: LOCATION OF THE OCEAN ENERGY TEST SITE IN GALWAY BAY (AQUAFACT, 2010)...... 10

FIGURE 2-2: SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF SMARTBAY PROJECT (SOURCE: SEAI)...... 11

FIGURE 2-3: WAVEBOB MOORED AT THE OCEAN ENERGY TEST SITE, GALWAY BAY (SOURCE: MARINE INSTITUTE)...... 12

FIGURE 2-4: SEILEAN WAVE ENERGY BUOY (OCEAN ENERGY LTD.) TESTING AT ¼ SCALE WAVE ENERGY TEST SITE IN GALWAY BAY. . 13

FIGURE 2-5 MARINE INSTITUTE SCHEMA OF APPLICATION PROCESS FOR WEC’S ...... 17

FIGURE 3-1: LOCATION OF THE SEVEN ALTERNATIVE LANDFALL SITES EXAMINED...... 24

FIGURE 3-2: INITIAL CABLE ROUTE OPTIONS PROPOSED IN THE FEASIBILITY STUDY (ARUP, 2010) ...... 25

FIGURE 3-3: SUBTIDAL BENTHIC GRAB STATIONS ALONG THE TWO FAVOURED ROUTES (MERC, 2012)...... 26

FIGURE 3-4: MODIFICATION TO THE SPIDDAL WEST CABLE ROUTE (AMS, 2012)...... 27

FIGURE 3-5: LOCATION OF THE OPTIONS FOR THE CEE LOCATION. SOUTH-WESTERN CORNER DEEMED MOST SUITABLE...... 28

FIGURE 3-6: LOCATION OF FINAL PROPOSED CABLE ROUTE (RED) WITH 250M CORRIDOR PLOTTED EITHER SIDE (IN PURPLE) WITH A

TABLE OF THE ROUTE COORDINATES (WGS84 UTM 29N)...... 29

FIGURE 4-1: LOCATION OF THE SHORE TERMINAL LOCATION, ONSHORE CABLE ROUTE AND LANDFALL SITE...... 31

FIGURE 4-2: EXAMPLE OF OUTSIDE PLANT (OSP) DUCTWORK (IMAGE COURTESY OF MALLIN CONSULTANTS)...... 32

FIGURE 4-3 LOCATION OF PROPOSED SYSTEM GROUND AREA...... 33

FIGURE 4-4 TYPICAL 900KG SEA GROUND PLATE (APPROX. 1.5M DIA. ) ...... 34

FIGURE 4-5: CABLE ROUTE, LANDFALL SITE AND CEE LOCATION...... 36

FIGURE 4-6: STANDARD TELECOMMUNICATION CABLE TYPES...... 36

FIGURE 4-7: PROPOSED CEE CONFIGURATION (MALLIN, 2012A)...... 38

FIGURE 4-8: CABLE BURIAL TOOL USING SURFACE JET PUMPS (MALLIN, 2012A)...... 40

FIGURE 4-9: DIVER USING JETTING EQUIPMENT (MALLIN, 2012A)...... 40

FIGURE 5-1: BATHYMETRY ALONG THE PROPOSED CABLE ROUTE (SOURCE: AMS, 2010;TENIX,, 2009)...... 41

FIGURE 5-2: MULTIBEAM BACKSCATTER DATA (AMS, 2012)...... 43

FIGURE 5-3: SEDIMENT TYPE ALONG THE PROPOSED CABLE ROUTE (AQUAFACT, 2012; MERC, 2012)...... 43

FIGURE 5-4. DEPTH TO BEDROCK ALONG THE PROPOSED CABLE ROUTE (AMS, 2012)...... 44

FIGURE 5-5 CONTOUR MAP OF INTERPRETED SEDIMENT THICKNESS AT THE END OF SPIDDAL PIER (WEST) AND BEACH BASED ON A

SEISMIC REFRACTION SURVEY (MINEREX, 2012)...... 45

FIGURE 6-1: ADCP DATA COLLECTED AT OCEAN ENERGY TEST SITE, GALWAY BAY (SOURCE: MARINE INSTITUTE) ...... 48

FIGURE 6-2: CURRENT SPEED AND DIRECTION (FLOODING SPRING TIDE) AROUND THE OCEAN ENERGY TEST SITE (MARINE INSTITUTE,

OCEANOGRAPHIC SERVICES, LYONS & BERRY, PERS. COMM. )...... 49

FIGURE 6-3: CURRENT SPEED AND DIRECTION (EBBING SPRING TIDE) AROUND THE OCEAN ENERGY TEST SITE. (MARINE INSTITUTE,

OCEANOGRAPHIC SERVICES, LYONS & BERRY, PERS. COMM.) ...... 49

FIGURE 6-4: WAVE HEIGHT DATA BY MONTH (2008-2011) COLLECTED AT THE OCEAN ENERGY TEST SITE (MARINE INSTITUTE, IMOS, 2012) ...... 50

FIGURE 6-5: WAVES EXCEEDING 2M IN HEIGHT BY MONTH (2008-2011) AT THE OCEAN ENERGY TEST SITE (MARINE INSTITUTE,

IMOS, 2012) ...... 51

vi FIGURE 7-1: DESIGNATED SITES IN THE VICINITY OF THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT...... 54

FIGURE 7-2: FAUNAL COMMUNITIES ALONG THE PROPOSED CABLE ROUTE (AQUAFACT, 2012; MERC, 2012)...... 55

FIGURE 7-3 VISUAL SIGHTING DATA AS RECORDED FROM SPIDDAL PIER, MARCH 2005 TO FEBRUARY 2007(O’BRIEN, 2013) ...... 58

FIGURE 7-4 HARBOUR PORPOISE DETECTIONS PER MONTH (O’BRIEN, 2013)...... 60

FIGURE 7-5 : RESULTS FROM C-POD DEPLOYMENTS FROM LWMS AND ES-WP ...... 61

FIGURE 8-1: CABLE ROUTE AND RMP SITES IN THE VICINITY OF THE ROUTE - EXTRACT FROM COUNTY GALWAY RMP SHEET NO 92

SHOWING DUCTING ROUTE IN MAGENTA...... 70

FIGURE 9-1. FISHING AND AQUACULTURE ACTIVITIES IN GALWAY BAY (SOURCE: MARINE INSTITUTE) ...... 73

FIGURE 9-2: MARINE TOURISM AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES IN GALWAY BAY (SOURCE: MARINE INSTITUTE)...... 76

List of Tables

TABLE 2-1: LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT ...... 20

TABLE 2-2 CONSULTATION MEETINGS REGARDING THE GALWAY BAY CABLE ...... 22

TABLE 6-1 SURFACE AND BOTTOM CURRENT SPEEDS ON A SPRING TIDE AT THE OCEAN ENERGY TEST SITE (MARINE INSTITUTE,

OCEANOGRAPHIC SERVICES, LYONS & BERRY, PERS. COMM. ) ...... 48

TABLE 7-1 CALCULATIONS OF HARBOUR PORPOISE RELATIVE ABUNDANCE FROM BLACK HEAD, SPIDDAL AND FANORE, 2005-2007

(O’BRIEN, 2013)...... 58

TABLE 7-2 DETAILS OF DEPLOYMENT LOCATIONS AND T-POD NUMBERS ASSIGNED TO THE SITE OVER THE DURATION OF THE

STUDY,(SAM1). (O’BRIEN, 2013)...... 58

TABLE 7-3 DETECTION DETAILS FROM T-POD DEPLOYMENTS AT SPIDDAL (O’BRIEN, 2013)...... 60

Appendices

1) MARINE ENVIRONMENT APPRAISAL OF AN OCEAN ENERGY TEST SITE IN INNER GALWAY BAY. (AQUAFACT

INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LTD., 2010)

2) SEAI GALWAY CABLE PROJECT FEASIBILITY STUDY. (ARUP, 2010)

3) GALWAY BAY ROUTE SURVEY. FINAL REPORT (ADVANCED MAPPING SERVICES, MI, 2011)

4) GALWAY BAY AMETS – INVESTIGATION OF CABLE ROUTE OPTIONS WITHIN THE SHALLOW SUB-LITTORAL AND INTER-TIDAL

(MERC CONSULTANTS, 2011)

5) THE GALWAY BAY CABLE PROJECT – BIRD SCREENING REPORT (ATKINS CONSULTANTS, 2011)

6) OPTIONS FOR GRID CONNECTION OF THE GALWAY BAY WAVE ENERGY TEST SITE (ESBI, 2011)

7) ECOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE GALWAY BAY CABLE ROUTE (MERC CONSULTANTS, 2012)

8) UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF GALWAY SMART CABLE PROJECT (MOORE MARINE SERVICES

LTD, 2011)

vii 9) GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY OF THE CABLE ROUTE IN SHALLOW SUB-LITTORAL ZONE AT SPIDDAL PIER (MINEREX GEOPHYSICAL

LTD, 2011)

10) GALWAY BAY CABLE ROUTE SURVEY. PRELIMINARY REPORT. (ADVANCED MAPPING SERVICES, MI, 2012B)

11) SUBTIDAL BENTHIC INVESTIGATIONS IN GALWAY BAY FOR THE GALWAY CABLE PROJECT. (AQUAFACT, 2012A).

12) TECHNICAL SERVICES FOR THE GALWAY BAY SMART CABLE PROJECT. (MALLIN CONSULTANTS LTD,2012A)

13) SITE VISIT FOR THE GALWAY BAY SMARTBAY CABLE PROJECT. (MALLIN CONSULTANTS LTD ,2012B)

14) CETACEAN REPORT – DR. JOANNE O’BRIEN GMIT (2013)

viii 1. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY

1.1. Introduction The background to the SmartBay research, test and demonstration platform lies in the long- standing mission of the Marine Institute to develop new commercial activities to realise the full potential of Ireland’s marine resources/sector. In this context, the Institute initiated a linked suite of research and capacity-building projects in the field of Advanced Marine/Environmental Technologies and Marine Renewable Energy. These sought to build upon generic research skills and expertise that had been developed in Ireland in fields such as microelectronics, sensors, materials, communications, sea current turbine design, wave tank model testing and wave energy modelling. In line with the Institute’s policy of developing national partnerships to achieve shared national objectives, collaborations have been established with SEAI, EPA, Enterprise Ireland, IDA (Industrial Investment Agency), the HEA (Higher Education Authority) , the third level sector, multinationals and indigenous SME’s (Small and Medium Enterprises).

The Galway Bay Cable Project has two primary objectives - a) Improved infrastructure to assess the performance of wave energy prototypes at the ¼-scale wave Energy Test Site. b) Provision of test and demonstration infrastructure for marine Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) through SmartBay.

1.2. The Project The objective of the Galway Bay Cable Project and the subject of this Environmental Report is the installation and operation of a fibre optic submarine cable providing a 3.5kW power supply and data transmission facility running from a suitable shore-based location in Spiddal to an observatory located on the seabed at the Wave Energy Test Site. The test site is located 1.3 kilometres from the shore and 2.4 kilometres south east of Spiddal pier. The cable will be approximately 25mm in diameter and will be protected from wave action and other damage at the shore end by an armoured steel sheath. For most of its length; however, it will not need armour as it will be buried 700mm under the sea bed. Approximately 4.1km of cable will be required in all.

The investment includes a 4km fibre optic cable containing 12 fibres. The cable termination will contain one fully functional wet mate connector with both electrical and optical circuits and one purely optical wet mate connector. The Cable End Equipment (CEE) will provide 400V DC 3.5kW and 1Gb/sec Ethernet, upgradeable to 10Gb/sec in future expansions. This option offers

1 Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project maximum versatility to the infrastructure and high capacity for wave energy devices while breaking new ground technologically without accepting major risk. This solution will also make the SmartBay research, test and demonstration platform unique in international terms, in that it will provide a level of service for instrument development not offered on any existing cabled observatories.

The shore station will be located in a small dedicated room within the secondary school, Colaiste Chroi Mhuire an Spideal, and will be the location for some data processing and storage of equipment. It is intended that education and outreach projects will be conducted in conjunction with the teachers in the secondary school as it is the only school in this area offering higher level science and mathematics at Leaving Certificate level.

Informal consultations regarding plans for the project have already been held with representatives of various stakeholder groups in and around the Spiddal area. No significant concerns were expressed by stakeholders at any of these meetings but there were many valuable exchanges, some of these giving rise to modifications to the proposed route of the onshore portion of the cable. Formal consultation is a component of the foreshore licence application process and will occur according to requirements stipulated by the DECLG.

1.3. Offshore Route Selection and Landfall Options A number of surveys and assessments were carried out by a range of consultants to examine all possible alternatives and select the most feasible options for the project. Seven landfall options and three possible cable route options were investigated in detail. Spiddal Pier (west) was chosen as the most appropriate cable landfall location and a suitable cable route from the pier to the wave energy test site was identified.

1.4. Installation The cable will be laid by a specially adapted cable laying vessel and will be buried post-lay by water jetting the sea bed, so that the cable can sink through the sediment. The sediment will re- solidify shortly after the jetting and the cable will be completely covered and protected. There will be some sediment remobilisation during the water jetting operation; however levels will be low and temporary and since any disturbance will be local and short-lived, turbidity is not expected to have any impact on local fauna.

The cable will be double armoured throughout. The protection provided by the armour will be supplemented in the nearshore by cast iron protection installed on the cable. The cable will be buried to 700mm where the seabed permits. In areas where the seabed prevents burial, cable

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project will be surface laid. Following installation and burial operations, in the event there are any areas of exposed cable, an additional site specific risk assessment will be carried out. If the identified risks merit it, additional protection may be applied in areas of exposed cable. This protection will be site specific, and may include such measures as additional cast iron protection, or concrete bags placed by divers. The Marine Institute will be supported in this effort by Mallin Consultants and McMahon Design and Management. Both of these consultants have extensive experience in landing cables in Ireland and around the world.

1.5. Impacts and Mitigation measures for the Development

1.5.1. Human Activity It can be expected that installation of the cable will make the test site more attractive as infrastructure for both research and for development activities of commercial enterprises and universities. This should give rise to increased work for local workboats.

The cable laying operations may disrupt local fishing activities taking place close to the cable route. However, this will be short-term and temporary (2 days approximately) and consultation will take place with local fishermen prior to operations commencing. Fishermen will be advised regarding trawling in the vicinity of the cable and to tow parallel to the cable rather than across it. The use of scallop dredging equipment along the cable route is not recommended due to the danger of exposing the cable to damage and for vessel safety considerations.

The impact of the cable-laying operation on commercial species of fish and shellfish will be short-term and temporary with fish returning to the area once the operations cease. The cable installation will have no impact on aquaculture activities given the distance to the nearest fish farm.

Skippers of commercial and leisure vessels operating in the area will be advised, via navigation charts and local signage on the pier, not to anchor in the vicinity of the cable.

1.5.2. Designated Conservation Sites In the environs of Galway Bay there are 4 marine and terrestrial cSACs providing habitat for various Annex I bird species and Annex II species such as sea trout, Atlantic salmon and harbour seals. The ocean energy test site and Spiddal pier are located well outside these and therefore the proposed cable route will have no impact on any of the protected cSAC habitats in Galway Bay.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

1.5.3. Fauna Sampling and detailed assessment of the faunal community within the sediments along the cable route indicated that the species present are typical of the area. No rare, sensitive or unusual species were recorded during this survey. It is expected that the temporary disturbance of the seabed and remobilisation of sediments and plumes associated with the cable laying operation will have no long-term effect on the benthic ecology or habitat along the cable route.

Local disturbance associated with the trenching process, i.e., sediment re-suspension and activities by divers, are likely to affect fish species swimming or living in the immediate vicinity and close-by to the cable. This impact will only be temporary with fish returning to the area once the operations cease.

The migration path of Atlantic Salmon, Sea Trout and Lamprey will not be impacted by the cable as it will be buried beneath the sediment and covered with cast iron protectors within 100m of the landfall site for additional protection. In addition, the cable will not traverse the mouth of the Owenboluisce/Boluisce River but will have a landing point and junction box at the end of Spiddal Pier. Little or no electromagnetic frequency (EMF) will be emitted as the cable operates with a very low capacity for electrical power i.e. 400V DC, 3.5kW.

The cable project will not impact local populations of dolphins, harbour porpoises and seals, except briefly during the few days of cable-laying when there will be noise and disturbance associated with vessel activity and water jetting of the sediments. This effect will be short term, and in addition temporary and mitigation measures advised by the NPWS and a cetacean expert (O’Brien, 2013) to minimise impacts will be undertaken as part of the installation work.1

Similarly, disturbance of bird life in the area will be confined to the period of cable-laying which will be short term and temporary.

1.5.4. Reef habitats Reef habitats are included in the Annex I list under the EU Habitats Directive. In the case of the Galway Bay Cable Project, the proposed cable route will avoid the rocky reef and boulder areas on the approach to shore. Re-suspended sediment will not negatively impact on the reef communities as levels will be low, short-term and temporary.

1 NPWS - Draft Guidance to Manage the Risk to Marine Mammals from Man-made Sound Sources http://www.npws.ie/media/npwsie/content/files/Guidance_Consultation%20Draft.pdf

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

1.5.5. Cultural Heritage An archaeological desktop assessment has indicated that there are no known shipwrecks on the proposed route. The onshore cable and ducting will pass in the vicinity of two Record of Monument and Places (RMP) sites. An archaeologist will supervise the works during excavation. If nothing of significance is uncovered, the supervision can be scaled back as appropriate.

Based on the results of the offshore assessment, it would appear that the buried remains of a palaeochannel are present along part of the route. The cable installation technique of jetting and ploughing is predicted to operate 700mm below the seafloor. This is a considerable distance above the palaeochannel horizons. Consequently, it is not predicted that the development will have any impact on cultural heritage. Should anything of cultural interest be uncovered, the Under Water Archaeology Unit in the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will be informed immediately.

2. INTRODUCTION

2.1. Rationale For Cable Project in Galway Bay The background to the SmartBay research, test and demonstration platform lies in the long- standing mission of the Marine Institute to develop new commercial activities to realise the full potential of Ireland’s marine resources/sector. In this context, the Institute initiated a linked suite of research and capacity-building projects in the field of Advanced Marine/Environmental Technologies and Marine Renewable Energy. These sought to build upon generic research skills and expertise that have been developed in Ireland in fields such as microelectronics, sensors, materials, communications, sea current turbine design, wave tank model testing and wave energy modelling. In line with the Institute’s policy of developing national partnerships to achieve shared national objectives, collaborations have been established with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), Enterprise Ireland (EI), the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the third level sector, multinationals and indigenous SMEs.

The strategic objectives of the project are fully coherent with the recommendations of the Report of the Research Prioritisation Steering Group. It specifically addresses Priority Area J – Marine Renewable Energy and Priority Area A – Future Networks and Communications. The report recommends that a test & demonstration infrastructure is provided for marine renewable energy and further states that the development and testing of ICT applications in a marine environment (based on the Smart Ocean concept) could be supported to enable this priority area. SmartBay was also identified in the national Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (2006-2013) and Sea Change - A Marine Knowledge, Research & Innovation Strategy for Ireland (2007-2013). The Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2012 identified the green economy and ICT as sectoral opportunities. Both sectors are addressed through this project.

SmartBay is an innovative project to establish a National Shared Marine Research, Test and Demonstration Platform to catalyse and facilitate the commercial development of cutting- edge remote sensing environmental and marine technology. The MI, together with the not- for-profit SmartBay company, SEAI and other third level institutions plan to procure and install a fibre optic cable from shore to an underwater hub and linking to the unique ¼ - scale Ocean Energy test facility in Galway Bay. The subsea cable will provide power and data

6 Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

connectivity to the test site in order to allow wave energy developers to assess the performance of wave energy converters in real time. In addition, a variety of instrument nodes and sensor packages are designed to contribute to marine sectors including aquaculture, environmental monitoring, shipping, security and education. Together, these are intended to provide a comprehensive set of the tools and technologies that will be contained in future customised solutions for the monitoring of important water bodies. SmartBay will be a unique, world-class infrastructure from which Ireland can create an indigenous cluster of research, industrial technology development and testing capabilities to support the commercialisation of environmental technologies and marine renewable energy.

The SmartBay Test Bed is a key enabler of the Smart Ocean Strategy and the creation of the SmartOcean Innovation Cluster. Ireland’s ICT sector comprises over 1,000 companies, including nine of the top ten global software companies, with exports of approximately €50bn. Over 50 of these companies (SMEs and multinationals) are already involved in the Irish SmartOcean cluster, targeting the fast-growing global market. The global market for marine IT and ocean surveying is estimated to be worth €6.7bn, which includes a €200m sub-market for marine monitoring applications served by integrated and real time systems, for marine ICT products and services. The Marine IT market includes digital design and simulation tools, subsea and wireless communication systems, web enabled sensor networks, satellite to seafloor sensing, data management systems, seabed mapping and forecast models.

The SmartOcean Strategy specifically identifies the requirement to consolidate investment in a flagship marine innovation test-bed platform. It sets out a vision to establish Ireland as a European and global leader in the development, testing and delivery of ICT-enabled decision support tools to the global marine sector. The SmartOcean strategy was built on the existing ICT cluster and Ireland’s science and technology base, and it aims to link this to our largest natural resource – the ocean – using it is a catalyst for innovation. This is similar to the way other nations have used oil and gas, shipbuilding or defence sectors to drive knowledge and innovation. The SmartBay Test Bed provides the foundational infrastructure for test beds for new jobs, new products and new services.

Many of Ireland’s Renewable Energy (RE) commitments are derived from those set out in European Directive 2009/28/EC. The EU has a European-wide target of 20 per cent for all energy to come from renewable energy sources by 2020. Ireland’s legally binding national

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

target is for 16 per cent of total final energy consumption to come from renewable energy in 2020. Our ocean energy target is for 500 MW of ocean energy capacity by 2020. While no targets are currently set for beyond 2020, the Government needs to take a longer term view to avail of the significant opportunities to sustainably develop Ireland’s rich potential from offshore wind, wave and tidal energy over the coming decades. According to SEAI, wave and tidal energy production and ancillary activities could add between €1.3-€9 billion to the Irish economy by 2030 (SEAI, 2010).

The development of renewable energy is central to overall energy policy in Ireland as it reduces dependence on fossil fuels, improves security of supply and reduces greenhouse gas emissions while creating environmental benefits, delivering green jobs to the economy and contributing to national competitiveness. (Strategy for Renewable Energy: 2012-2020).

The Strategy for Renewable Energy: 2012-2020 (DCENR, 2012) has as a strategic goal to enable green growth through research and development of renewable technologies including the preparation for market of ocean technologies. Some relevant key actions of the Strategy include publishing of the final Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP) and to continue the Ocean Energy Programme in conjunction with SEAI, IDA, Marine Institute, SFI and EI including support for the Prototype fund, the Galway Bay/SmartBay incubator and the Marine Energy Research Centre. ‘Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth’ (Government of Ireland, 2012) is an integrated marine plan which sets out a roadmap for the Government’s vision, high level goals and integrated actions across policy, governance and business to enable Ireland’s marine potential to be realised. In this plan, the Government has set a projected annual turnover target of >€61m from Marine ICT and Biotechnology by 2020.

Under the Government's Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI5), SmartBay was awarded €3.823 million in operational funding. In October 2012, Science Foundation Ireland awarded funding of €2.3m to the ocean energy test bed under its research infrastructure call. An additional €700k is available to the project through cash contributions from SEAI and SmartBay Ireland Ltd. Substantial benefit-in-kind contributions are also being made by the MI and SEAI in terms of equipment and technical support to the project.

It is envisaged that the infrastructure will be operated by the not-for-profit SmartBay Ireland company whose mandate will be to maximise use of the facility, generate sustainable funding for the infrastructure and identify all innovative R&D opportunities. Its role is to leverage

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project long term employment opportunities through the HEA sector, start up companies, SMEs and industrial partnerships with multinational companies.

The Galway Bay Cable Project is a joint undertaking comprising two main objectives 1. Improved infrastructure to assess the performance of wave energy prototypes at the ¼-scale wave Energy Test Site. 2. Provision of test and demonstration infrastructure for marine Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

Both projects require the installation of a subsea power and communications cable. The installation of a subsea cable requires a Foreshore Licence from the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG). This Environmental Report, contains a description of the proposed works, alternatives considered, baseline conditions, impacts and mitigation measures for the project.

2.2. Background The Ocean Energy Test Site for ¼ scale prototypes of Wave Energy Converters (WECs) was established in Galway Bay in 2006. The site is unique internationally - it offers the benefit of realistic marine testing facilities in a relatively benign environment and with a wave climate that is approximately one quarter scale of North Atlantic conditions. The test site is located 1.3km off the north shore and approximately 2.4km east south east of Spiddal Pier (Figure 2-1). The surface area of the site is approximately 37ha with a water depth ranging from 21 to 24m. The sediment type in the test site ranges from muddy sand in the north-western half, slightly gravelly, muddy sand towards the eastern section and sand towards the southern section (AQUAFACT, 2010). Its east west extent is c. 670m and its north south extent is c. 560m. The boundaries are delineated by navigation markers at the four corners of the site.

The 10 year foreshore lease for the site was issued in March 2006. It is the MI’s intention to seek a renewal of the test site lease for a further 20 years and will start the application for the lease renewal a year in advance of the current expiry date (March 2016).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 2-1: Location of the Ocean Energy Test Site in Galway Bay (AQUAFACT, 2010).

As currently configured, the ¼-scale wave energy test site facility is utilised by Ocean Energy companies, technology developers and national/international researchers. Two Irish wave energy companies (Wavebob and Ocean Energy Ltd) have assessed the performance of WECs between 2006-2009 under various sea states, wave heights and oceanographic conditions. EU funded research projects have continued to use the site for the collection and monitoring of data and HMRC (University College Cork) successfully completed the testing of various components required by the wave energy sector, such as power generators, power control systems, instrumentation, telemetry and grid interface technology, using the wave energy device as a platform. Technology developers have also used the site for acoustic monitoring of cetaceans and communications and telemetry research (McKeown, 2010). To date wave energy devices have not been connected to the shore for electricity or data exchange. In order to test the devices for operational configuration, the Galway Bay Cable Project now intends to establish the facility as a cabled connection for developers.

SmartBay is co-located with the ¼-scale wave energy test site off Spiddal and will provide ocean energy developers with a unique platform to investigate next generation monitoring, communication and data management technologies of relevance to the ocean energy sector. The first phase of SmartBay was initiated in 2008 with the deployment of hardware infrastructure and the development of data management and visualisation tools. The infrastructure and data collection were managed as an integrated network and included

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project environmental monitoring buoys at Mace Head (Connemara) and mid-bay off Inishmaan, a directional waver rider buoy moored at the ocean energy test site and tide gauges in Galway Harbour and Inishmore. The pilot project provided test facilities to sixteen marine, technology, ICT and research projects. Key industrial partners who have trialed the technologies in the SmartBay infrastructure include IBM and Intel.

The Galway Bay Project will provide a power supply and data transmission facility (fibre optic cable) to the SmartBay infrastructure via a submarine cable running from an observatory located on the seabed at the test site to a suitable shore-based location, a rented space in a public building. The system will comprise of a shore station, sub-sea cable and a sub-sea node called the Cable End Equipment (CEE). The SmartBay power and telecommunication cable will supply electricity to the WECs via the CEE. A schematic diagram illustrating this is shown in Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2: Schematic representation of SmartBay project (Source: SEAI). 2.3. Wave Energy Converters (WECs) Two Irish developers have successfully completed the testing of ¼-scale wave energy converters at the test site off Spiddal. Wavebob Ltd. was the first company to use the Ocean Energy test site and deployed a prototype at the site on 20th March 2006 (Figure 2-3). It had a failure and was recovered to shore c. 10 days later and it was redeployed again on the 20th April and was recovered again in July 2006. A second device with modifications was deployed again on 4th October 2007 and was subsequently recovered.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Ocean Energy Ltd. completed its assessment of the “OE Buoy” wave energy converter prototype (Figure 2-4) on the site. It was on the site three times – it was deployed in December 2006 and recovered in April 2007; it was deployed on 24th March 2008 and recovered 30th June 2009; and finally it was deployed on site in January 2011 and recovered in March 2011. The open sea testing confirmed the ability of the device to operate safely and reliably in real sea state conditions.

SEAI will launch a call in 2013 for potential developers to test in Galway Bay. SEAI hopes to have two tests in 2013 but this will depend on what proposals are received in the call.

Figure 2-3: Wavebob moored at the Ocean Energy test site, Galway Bay (Source: Marine Institute).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 2-4: Seilean Wave Energy Buoy (Ocean Energy Ltd.) testing at ¼ scale wave energy test site in Galway Bay.

2.4. Current Criteria for Approval of Devices for Testing at the ¼- scale site in Galway Bay Currently, there are a number of technical and governance procedures for deploying equipment and WECs at the test site – these are part of the current conditions of the foreshore lease for the test site (Marine Institute, 2006). It should be noted that additional WECs or equipment deployed on the site connected to the cable are not part of this foreshore licence application. These will be considered under the current lease and in any extension to that lease, when the extension is sought in 2016.

2.4.1. Insurance Developers are to have public liability insurance (minimum cover €6,500,000) and employers liability insurance. Certificates of these are to be presented to MI with the signed application/at a minimum of four weeks prior to any works beginning at the test site.

2.4.2. Hull Construction/Certification Hull Design and construction must meet appropriate standards in use at the time of application submission and undertaken or approved by a recognized and approved contractor, all mooring and towing points are to be certified welded and proven as such. Detailed specification of the device and evidence of competence of design and construction

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project contractors is to be submitted to MI with the signed application/at minimum of four weeks prior to any works beginning at the test site.

2.4.3. Mooring System Mooring system to be constructed and sized for expected loading and in accordance to the appropriate standards in use at the time of application submission. All mooring materials are to be certified. The mooring design and materials are to be submitted to MI for analysis with the signed application/at a minimum of four weeks prior to any works beginning at the test site.

2.4.4. Deployment and Recovery Strategy Deployment and recovery strategies are to be outlined in writing, giving details of vessels employed, means of deployment/recovery and duration and optimal weather conditions for deployment and recovery with the signed application/at a minimum of four weeks prior to any works beginning at the test site.

2.4.5. Technical The compliance of device development and testing programmes with the broad outline described in the MI/Hydraulic and Marine Research Centre (HMRC) document “Ocean Energy Development and Evaluation Protocol” will also be necessary.

A copy of the proposed testing programme aims and objectives and expected duration as well as a broad outline of methodology to be followed will be required with the signed application/at a minimum of four weeks prior to any works commencing on site.

2.4.6. Safety Device to have an argos/iridium/gsm or similar drift alarm installed giving rapid indication and warning of drift of device outside designated area. This system is to be monitored by the developer or by an appropriate local contact to facilitate rapid response to alarm. The system should be fitted with an alarm to indicate the loss of system functionality. Details of both the system and the appointed monitor name and address to be included in the emergency plan and procedure. Device to be fitted with a marine standard yellow flashing light, flashing once every ten seconds at a minimum of three meters above the waterline. Radar Reflector (compliant with ISO 8729) to be fitted at least 3 meters above the waterline.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Hull to be painted bright orange/yellow or red. Boarding ladder facilitating easy access to be fitted with adequate handrails/harness clipping eyes and markings to be provided as per the appropriate standards in effect at the time of the application. Towing eyes fitted with towing strops to allow towing/recovery to be provided and to comply with the appropriate standards in effect at the time of application. A detailed emergency plan and procedure outlining actions to be taken in case of catastrophic failure, drift or sinking of device to be submitted. A local contact in case of emergency is to be designated and identified within the procedure as well as the locations of suitable recovery vessels. All compartments are to be fitted with bilge alarms and automatic bilge pumps sufficient battery capacity must be provided to allow monitoring and operation of device safety systems for extended periods. Batteries to be located where they are least likely to be immersed in the event of flooding. Any oils used in the device are to be biodegradable. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) must also be provided for all hazardous materials being used /stored on the device. All staff employed must be suitably qualified and trained. Only a fully licensed work vessel to be used. The developer and his staff must never visit the site alone. No attempt should be made to board moored devices when sea conditions are unsuitable. If there is a fully functioning wave measuring device on the site, data from this can assist judgements in this regard. Moored device should have full first aid facilities and emergency voice communication system. A log of site visits and operations must be maintained by the developer and a copy provided to the Marine Institute as required. A blank log template will be provided by the Institute. Test site users/developers are responsible for their own safety, that of their staff and the safety of visitors invited by them to the test area. They must have prepared a comprehensive risk assessment and corresponding health and safety statement in advance of commencing operations on the site.

Details of requirements as outlined in this section must be submitted to MI with the signed application/ at a minimum of four weeks prior to any works beginning at the test site.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

2.5. Outline procedure for Deployment of Devices at the Wave Energy Test Site in Spiddal Developer completes and submits application form and copies of required documentation to the Marine Institute. Application initially assessed for technical competence by MI expert panel and for suitability of proposed testing programme for Galway Test Site. The Marine Institute will appoint a surveyor to perform inspections on the device to ensure it is seaworthy and complies with the Marine Institute safety regulations. The developer must submit at the time of the application or at a minimum of four weeks prior to deployment: Insurance certificates, Emergency Plan and Procedure and a detailed Testing Programme to MI for evaluation. A test site use/tenancy agreement must be signed by developer at a minimum of three weeks prior to works commencing on the site. MI issues a letter of permission to deploy to the developer. A marine notice detailing installation details and duration will be issued prior to deployment of moorings and device. The device can then be deployed at site location. The developer is to inform the MI when testing is completed at their earliest convenience. The developer is to remove device and any associated equipment from the test site and reinstate the test site to its original condition as it was prior to the development. This must be done within a two week period after testing has been completed. A longer duration may be requested but must be agreed with MI.

The tenancy agreement is then terminated by MI.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 2-5 Marine Institute Schema of Application Process for WEC’s 2.6. Intellectual Property Rights of the Data As it is likely that different parties will collaborate, there may be shared forms of data ownership with rights assigned on the most appropriate basis. Smartbay Ireland, SEAI or the MI may-be such a party. Where data is public, free to the public or commercial entities, there is usually no specific responsibility to protect that data. Where data is validated or quality controlled there is an associated liability to protect and ensure accuracy. Where the test bed gathers, transmit, or manages data owned by others that is proprietary there is a responsibility to reasonably protect the data and not share or give access to others.

Where data is gathered by a government agency for research purposes it is normal to make that data available publically, as is currently the case for the Infomar sea bed mapping project. If data are to be used as part of a study or paper, or if there is a proposed IP

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project right/patent filing to be based on the data then there will be a time delay before making the data available and the proprietary need to protect will apply.

The MI has a strong track record in making data from sensors and instruments managed by the MI publicly available in real time, e.g., the Integrated Marine Observation pages use the Microsoft Virtual Earth Mapping interface to display real time readings.2 It is envisaged that data from a core set of environmental sensors will be available in real-time to interested users.

2.7. Contributors The Environmental Report includes a synthesis of relevant information from a number of supporting studies and surveys commissioned by the Marine Institute and SEAI during the course of the preparation of this document. These works were carried out to investigate the alternative options for the cable route, landfall site and onshore route. All reports are included as appendices to this environmental report and Table 2-1 lists these reports in chronological order showing consultant, title, date, relevant appendix number and the associated reference used throughout this report.

In order to scope out the “Galway Bay Cable Project”, a feasibility study was undertaken by ARUP (2010) on behalf of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to assess the infrastructure requirements, cable design, and connectors as well as to investigate what would be required in terms of options for route selection, cable landing and location of an onshore station. ARUP were also asked to advise on consents and licence requirements. Their report recommended that surveys of a number of cable routes be carried out and that once a preferred option and location of a shore station was selected that a foreshore licence be sought from the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG). Permission will also have to be sought from the ESB network for a grid connection. Based on the information available, ARUP (2010) concluded that the proposed Galway Bay Cable project would be exempt from having to undertake an EIS under Schedule 5 of the Planning and Development Regulations. However, a detailed Environmental Report considering the characteristics and location of the proposed developments and potential ecological impacts of the project would be necessary as part of the requirement to accompany an application for a foreshore licence.

2 http://www.marine.ie/home/publicationsdata/data/IMOS/

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

In preparation for the SFI( Science Foundation Ireland) research infrastructures funding call, a second review was conducted for the project to assess all of the technical requirements and considerations, cable route selection and costs (Mallin, 2012a). This was undertaken by Mallin Consultants who specialize in subsea cable and network engineering projects. The report re-confirmed the sole suitable landing location of Spiddal pier west and recommended the most appropriate technical solution for the WECs and SmartBay based on the likely funding available to the project (see Appendices for full report).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Table 2-1: List of contributors to the Environmental Report

Consultant Report Title Issue Date Appendix No. Reference AQUAFACT International Marine Environmental Appraisal of an Ocean Energy 15/06/2010 1 AQUAFACT, 2010 Services Ltd. Test Site in Inner Galway Bay ARUP SEAI Galway Cable Project Feasibility Study 02/11/2010 2 ARUP, 2010 AMS Galway Bay Cable Route Survey. Draft Final Report 08/2011 3 AMS, 2011 Atkins Consulting Ltd. Galway Bay Cable Project. Bird Screening Report 29/09/2011 4 O’Donoghue, 2011 MERC Consultants Galway Bay AMETS. Investigation of cable route options 10/2011 5 MERC, 2011 within the shallow sublittoral and intertidal. Moore Marine Services Underwater archaeological and cultural heritage impact 11/2011 6 Kieran, 2011 Ltd. assessment. Cable route selection survey, Spiddal, Co. Galway ESBI SEAI options for grid connection of the Galway Bay wave 5/12/2011 7 ESBI, 2011 energy test site MERC Consultants Galway Bay AMETS. Description of benthos along the 01/2012 8 MERC, 2012 proposed cable route Minerex Geophysics Ltd. ¼ scale wave energy test site, Cable landfall at Spiddal 24/01/2012 9 Minerex, 2012 New Pier, Co. Galway. Geophysical Survey Mallin Consultants Ltd. Technical services for the Galway Bay SmartBay Cable 19/06/2012 10 Mallin, 2012a Project. Status Review (Final) Mallin Consultants Ltd. Site visit for the Galway Bay SmartBay Cable Project. Site 14/08/2012 11 Mallin, 2012b Visit Draft 2

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Advanced Mapping SEAI Galway Bay Cable Route Development Survey. Final 14/09/2012 12 AMS, 2012a Services, MI Report. Offshore Survey Report AQUAFACT International Subtidal Benthic Investigations in Galway Bay for the Galway 22/10/2012 13 AQUAFACT, 2012a Services Ltd Bay Cable Project Moore Marine Services Ltd. Underwater archaeological and cultural heritage impact 10/2012 14 Kieran, 2012 assessment. Additional Cable route selection survey, Spiddal, Co. Galway Advanced Mapping Galway Bay Cable Route Survey. Preliminary Report 16/11/2012 15 AMS, 2012b Services, MI GMIT Cetacean Presence at the Ocean Energy Test Site Spiddal: As 08/03/2013 17 O’Brien, 2013 Determined through Land Based Visual Monitoring and Static Acoustic Monitoring Using PODS.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

2.8. Pre-Licence Application Informal Consultation The foreshore licence application procedure requires formal consultation with key stakeholders and the public once the application is lodged with the Department of Environment, Communications and Local Government (DECLG). In the case of this project,informal consultations were arranged with stakeholders during September and October 2012 prior to completing this report and submitting the foreshore licence application. The objective of this initiative was to inform stakeholders about the project and to give them an opportunity to voice opinions or concerns which could influence its final design and configuration.

Table 2-2 Consultation meetings regarding the Galway Bay cable

Group (person(s) consulted) Date

Bádóirí Lurgain (Mr. Jim Horgan) 28/09/2012

Boluisce Angling Club (Mr. Brian Curran) 21/09/2012

Boluisce Fishery (Mr. Dónal Ó Standún) 21/09/2012

Bórd Iascaigh Mhara, Galway (Dr. Peter Tyndall) 27/09/2012

Coláiste Chroí Mhuire (Principal Ms. Tríona Ní Mhurchu) 06/11/2012

Comhairle Pobail an Spidéil (Mr. Aodán Mac Donncha) 10/09/2012

County Councillors (Cllr. Seosamh Ó’Laoi) 21/09/2012

Galway Bay Inshore Fishermen’s Association (Mr. Patrick Oliver, Chairman) 27/09/2012

Galway County Council Executives (Ms. Martina Moloney, County Manager, Mr. 14/06/2012 Frank Gilmore, Director of Service; Mr. Kevin Finn, Executive Engineer; Mr. Pat McMahon, County Librarian, Mr. Evan Molly, Senior Engineer)

Inland Fisheries Ireland (Dr. Paddy Gargan, Senior Scientist, Mr. Pat O’Gorman, 21/09/2012 District Inspector)

Inshore trawlers (Mr. Padraig McDonagh, Rossaveal) 10/09/2012

Pot fishermen, Spiddal area (Mr. Tom Feeney) 22/09/2012

Sea Anglers (Mr. Kevin McGowan) 28/09/2012

Spiddal Sailing Club (Dr. Mark White) 28/09/2012

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Group (person(s) consulted) Date

Spiddal stakeholder & engineer (Mr. Cormac O’Mhurchu) 21/09/2012

Udaras na Gaeltachta, Furbo, (Mr. Brendan O’Maolagain) 28/09/2012

Consultations took the form of face to face meetings, emails and phone calls as required. A website (www.marine.ie/testbedconsultation) and an information leaflet were prepared. Table 2-2 lists the meetings held with individuals or groups. No significant concerns were expressed by stakeholders at any of these meetings but there were many valuable exchanges, some of these giving rise to modifications to the proposed route of the onshore portion of the cable. Formal consultation is a component of the foreshore licence application process and will occur according to requirements stipulated by the DECLG.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

3. CONSIDERATION OF OFFSHORE ROUTE SELECTION AND

LANDFALL OPTIONS

A number of surveys and assessments were carried out by a range of consultants to examine all possible alternatives and select the most feasible options for the project. All reports are included in the Appendices to this Environmental Report. Refer to Table 2-1 for survey type and Appendix Number.

3.1. Landfall Sites & Onshore Location

Figure 3-1: Location of the seven alternative landfall sites examined.

Seven landfall options were investigated following the initial feasibility study (ARUP, 2010) (see Figure 3-1): 1. Spiddal New Pier; 2. Spiddal West Beach 3. Spiddal Old Pier; 4. Spiddal East Beach (near the craft village); 5. Baile an tSagairt (west location); 6. Baile an tSagairt (east location); and 7. Furbo Beach.

All of these landfall sites were investigated in terms of:

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their suitability as an access point for the subsea cable; their suitability to accommodate a shore terminal in the immediate vicinity; their proximity to electrical infrastructure and fibre network; their importance in terms of archaeology and cultural heritage; their location in relation to designated conservation sites.

The initial feasibility study (ARUP, 2010) identified 3 possible cable routes options to connect the ocean energy test site to the various landfall sites. These routes are referred to as Spiddal, Centre and Furbo and as can be seen in Figure 3-2. A geophysical survey was conducted to examine all three options (AMS, 2011) using a side scan sonar towfish and a geoacoustic chirp. Historical LIght Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data were also examined. The shallower sections of these routes were investigated using a combination of drop-down camera and diver surveys (MERC, 2011). The Furbo route was not investigated any further at this point as the landfall site was deemed unsuitable. A subtidal benthic grab survey was conducted along the Spiddal route (Spiddal New Pier/Spiddal West Beach) and Centre route (Baile an tSagairt East) (MERC, 2012) (see Figure 3-3).

These surveys also resulted in the Baile an tSagairt route being ruled out as the cable landing in this location was too complicated due to the presence of reefs in the form of bedrock, large boulders and cobble beds (MERC, 2011).

Figure 3-2: Initial cable route options proposed in the feasibility study (ARUP, 2010)

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 3-3: Subtidal benthic grab stations along the two favoured routes (MERC, 2012).

The above surveys identified an unobstructed sedimentary route to Spiddal New Pier and Spiddal West Beach. The depth of sediment overburden was investigated using seismic refraction to ensure sufficient sediment for cable burial (Minerex, 2012). Following a technical appraisal, this route was modified as the turn in the route from north-south to east- west was too severe and would have caused problems when laying and installing the cable (Mallin, 2012a). As a result, two route extensions were investigated (see Figure 3-4). Two extensions were explored due to the fact that alternative locations for the Cable End Equipment (CEE) site were also being explored. A subtidal benthic grab survey (AQUAFACT, 2012) and geophysical surveys (multibeam, side scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler and magnetometer) (AMS, 2012) were carried out along these route extensions. The southernmost route was finally selected as the seafloor conditions were most favourable along this route. A sedimented palaeochannel from the Owenboluisce river extends into the approaches to Spiddal pier west which provides adequate protection for cable burial along its length.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 3-4: Modification to the Spiddal West cable route (AMS, 2012).

Spiddal New Pier and Spiddal West Beach were also identified as the preferred landfall sites as the pier offers adequate space for the construction of a manhole to terminate the subsea cable armour and to allow for a temporary lay-down area during construction, there is suitable connection available, to the ESB Low Voltage Network in the area and the location is close to a facility which provides a room for data storage equipment and is within close proximity to the national fibre optic network (ESBI, 2011). Following a detailed site appraisal, the new Pier was selected as the preferred option for cable landfall as a suitable vertical channel can be incised into the pier to accommodate the cable (Mallin, 2012b). The beach option may have led to public concern in the event of sand migrating away and exposing the cable. There were no archaeological or ecological constraints associated with the pier (Kieran, 2011; ESBI, 2011).

The desktop archaeological assessment of this proposed option has indicated that there are no known shipwrecks or recorded monuments along the subsea route and suggested that, in the event of there being previously undiscovered artefacts, the sediments in the palaeochannel at the inshore portion are deep enough to render unlikely any significant archaeological impact arising from the cable burial procedure (Kieran, 2012).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

3.2. Cable End Equipment (CEE) Location Three different locations were explored for the installation of the CEE (see Figure 3-5). A location in the south-western corner of the ocean energy test site was deemed the most suitable as this location minimises the area of the test site where anchors and other seabed equipment will be restricted (Mallin, 2012a).

Figure 3-5: Location of the options for the CEE location. South-western corner deemed most suitable.

3.3. Final Cable Route Selection The final proposed cable route was chosen based on all of the onshore and offshore technical and logistical considerations described in this section (Section 3). The final proposed cable route (in red) with a 250m corridor on either side (in purple) are plotted in Figure 3-6, along with a table of the proposed coordinates for the route (WGS84 UTM29N). These coordinates form the basis of this foreshore licence application.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 3-6: Location of final proposed cable route (red) with 250m corridor plotted either side (in purple) with a table of the route coordinates (WGS84 UTM 29N).

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4. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED WORKS

4.1. Shore Terminal The shore terminal is to be located in Colaiste Chroi Mhuire secondary school in the village of Spiddal which lies approximately 1km to the northeast of the landfall site along public roads (Figure 4-1). Following consultation with the school principal and the board of the school, it was agreed that the project will form an important education and outreach opportunity for both the school and the project. The school currently offers higher level science and maths to its students to Leaving Certificate level and there will be opportunities for the students to learn about the unique science and engineering facilities employed in the ocean energy test bed.

Some disused rooms at the rear of the school have been identified as suitable for re-fitting. The equipment required in the shore terminal will be relatively modest (Mallin, 2012a). It will include an optical termination panel, an Ethernet switch identical to the switch in the Cable End Equipment (CEE), a power supply that is compatible with the CEE requirements, a computer to run the CEE control software and a data storage buffer for the data acquired.

An uninterruptible power supply will be provided, together with sufficient batteries to allow an orderly shut-down of the system (Mallin, 2012a). For real time data, a high capacity fibre connection to the Marine Institute will be required. It is assumed that the data storage and processing will take place at the Institute. An appropriate fibre connection, in the form of a wavelength, can be provided by the local telecommunications provider.

The shore station will also house data processing and storage equipment. In particular, uncompressed HDTV data will require some treatment to make it suitable for transmission over an IP network, and it may be necessary to provide some buffering or permanent storage at the shore station. Access to the shore station will allow developers of data processing hardware and software to work in real time on actual subsea data.

The total space required for the shore station equipment is on the order of 30 to 40m2. If space becomes an issue, as little as 10m2 may be feasible. However, this space could limit the amount of working area available and become cramped and inconvenient during testing, deployment, and upgrades.

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Figure 4-1: Location of the shore terminal location, onshore cable route and landfall site. 4.2. Onshore Cable & Shore Connection The onshore cable route connecting the shore terminal to the landfall site can be seen in Figure 4-1. The cable will run from the landfall site along the pier to the roadway; it will then follow the road in a north-northeasterly direction for ca. 150m. It will then turn northwards onto a road leading up to a junction on the main route in and out of Spiddal, the R336. It will traverse the Spiddal Bridge and the cabling will be routed to the rear of the school. The entire onshore route is estimated at approximately 1km. A road opening licence will be required from Galway Council for the works.

The transition joint box will be located on the pier. The subsea cable will be routed up through a vertical channel that is cut into the side of the pier (Mallin, 2012b). The cable will be fixed to the vertical channel and a trench will be opened at the head of the ladder to allow for the minimum bend radius (typically 1,500mm). This will allow the subsea cable to enter the transition joint bay and connect to the onshore cable. The construction of a small chamber 1.0m diameter with a 0.6m heavy duty steel sealable cover in the top of the pier is recommended. The chamber should have a drainage duct in the event of it filling up over

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

time. At the foot of the pier, the cable will be buried and covered using cast iron protectors which will be placed by divers. These protectors will extend out ca. 100m.

Mallin Consultants have recommended installing 4 x 1.5” ducts to cover all eventualities and these will buried at a depth of 1 metre below the level of the road (Figure 4-2). Feedback from Galway County Council engineers suggested that if rock is encountered, 0.6m depth with concrete cover will suffice. Provision will also be made for warning tape to be placed approximately 0.2m above the duct during backfilling. A programme of archaeological monitoring will be carried out during the terrestrial ducting operations. This program of monitoring will be based mainly in the vicinity of the two RMP sites. Where the likelihood of impacting archaeology is very low, the frequency of the programme of archaeological monitoring will reflect this.

Figure 4-2: Example of outside plant (OSP) ductwork (image courtesy of Mallin Consultants).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

4.3. System Ground A system ground that is separate from any building grounds is required for the seawater return (Mallin, 2012b). A system ground return plate similar to those required for submarine telecommunication facilities will be installed in the water on the seabed off the end of the pier, as shown below. The depth criterion and final location will be based on measured salinity levels at that location. As the effectiveness of the system ground is determined by conductivity, it is important to locate it in fully saline water, i.e., 35 psu.

Figure 4-3 Location of Proposed System Ground Area.

The ground return plate will likely consist of a 1.5 m diameter steel plate connected to a single armoured cable which is then connected to the pier manhole. The ground plate will be installed shortly after the shore end installation. The steel plate is lowered into the water by machinery from either a barge (or other suitable vessel or by equipment on shore). Floats are then attached and a small boat can be used to tow the plate to the installation position. The cable is attached to the plate and as it is towed into position the cable is paid out from a drum located on shore or on the barge. Floats are also added to the cable as the plate is towed offshore. Once the plate reaches the desired position the floats are cut or deflated and the plate is positioned by divers. The plate and cable will be flush to the seabed and will present no hazard for navigation, marine traffic or other seabed users.

The resistance between the system ground as measured in the shore station and the ocean will be approximately 1Ω. The voltage differential between the system ground and the ocean

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

ground will be less than 10V at full system load. Contact with the plate will present no hazard to divers.

Figure 4-4 Typical 900kg sea ground plate (approx. 1.5m dia. ) 4.4. Subsea Cable The proposed subsea cable route can be seen in Figure 4-5. The cable will enter the water at the Spiddal New Pier landfall site, then turn south down the slope (Mallin, 2012a). The route down the slope runs on sediment between banks of exposed rock. This stable sedimented channel is a palaeovalley extending from the Owenboluisce/Boluisce River estuary just to the east of Spiddal New Pier. Approximately 500m from the shoreline, the underlying rock begins to outcrop and the surficial sediments thin from in excess of 2m to less than 0.5m where present over the rocks. Approximately 1km south of the pier, the cable route begins to turn to the east towards the ocean energy test site. The turn has been made as gradual as possible to accommodate normal cable lay tensions without risking pulling out the bend and laying the cable on the isolated rock outcrops. The proposed cable route is located on a relatively flat and featureless seabed composed of sandy sediments within a water depth of 21m to 24m. The seafloor gradient is shallow and slopes gently downwards along the proposed cable route towards the ocean energy test site. The total length of the cable route is estimated as 4.1km.

A standard single conductor telecommunications type cable will be used to connect the landfall site at Spiddal New Pier to the Cable End Equipment (CEE) in the ocean energy test site (Mallin, 2012a; ARUP, 2010). The cable will be fitted with 12 fibres and the single power conductor will require the use of seawater as a return path from the CEE (Section 0). The key

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

design features of this type of cable are that the central fibre package is protected by the matrix of two layers of interlocking steel wires contained in the sheath formed by the single copper conductor (Mallin, 2012a). Given the need for heavy protection on the inshore route, a subsea telecommunications cable is the preferred option as the cable design is extremely robust and the cable is designed to be installed from a moving vessel (Mallin, 2012a). The cable will be double armoured throughout. The protection provided by the armour will be supplemented in the nearshore by cast iron protection installed on the cable. The cable will be buried to 700mm where the seabed permits. In areas where the seabed prevents burial, cable will be surface laid. Following installation and burial operations, in the event there are any areas of exposed cable, an additional site specific risk assessment will be carried out. If the identified risks merit it, additional protection may be applied in areas of exposed cable. This protection will be site specific, and may include such measures as additional cast iron protection, or concrete bags placed by divers. The Marine Institute will be supported in this effort by Mallin Consultants and McMahon Design and Management. Both of these consultants have extensive experience in landing cables in Ireland and around the world.

The cable diameter will be 25mm, resistance will not exceed 1.25Ω/km and 4.1km of cable will be required to connect the landfall site to the CEE. Figure 4-6 shows standard telecommunication cable types. The cable will terminate with one Fully Functional Wet Mate Connector (FFWMC) with both electrical and optical circuits and one purely optical wet mate connector (Mallin, 2012a). In this way, the CEE can be recovered to the surface without disturbing the cable. During installation the cable lay will be completed and the CEE installed as a final task.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 4-5: Cable route, landfall site and CEE location.

Figure 4-6: Standard telecommunication cable types.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

4.5. Cable End Equipment (CEE) & Test Berths The Cable End Equipment (CEE) will receive power and communications from shore and deliver power and communications to individual instrument ports (Mallin, 2012a). Additionally, the CEE may serve as a connection point for future expansion of the system. To perform these functions the CEE will incorporate power converters, a communications hub and control functions. The CEE will be contained within a pressure resistant housing with a design life of 20 years. Connections to the incoming cable and downstream instruments will be made via bulkheads and dry mate connectors. The CEE will provide 400V DC (3.5kW) to the environmental sensors, a Floating Power System (FPS) or Power Buoy, Wave Energy Converters (WECs) and High Definition Television (HDTV) cameras. Figure 4-7 shows the proposed CEE configuration.

The connection between the CEE and WEC or FPS will have three major elements: a subsea hybrid connector, a cable with fibre optic and copper conductors and a surface connector (Mallin, 2012a). The subsea connector will be of the FFWMC (Fully Functional Wet Mate Connector) variety. This connector will allow the cable to be disconnected by divers for recovery of the CEE. The cable itself will be suitable for use as a riser cable. In order to reduce cable wear, the cable will be installed in a floating lazy-S configuration. The touchdown area will be protected by static bend restrictors and anchored to the seabed. The lazy S will be formed by a combination of bend restrictors, cable buoyancy modules and cable weights. The entry onto the buoy will be softened as necessary, with bend restrictors and load transfer equipment on the cable. The surface connector will be designed for full seawater immersion. The materials will be selected to accommodate the extremely corrosive environment anticipated on the buoy, including salt spray, direct sunlight and temperature variations.

The CEE will be installed in the southwest corner of the ocean energy test site (Figure 4-5). This location will minimise the area of the site where anchors and other seabed impact equipment are restricted, while offering the protection of the ocean energy test site to the CEE (Mallin, 2012a).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 4-7: Proposed CEE Configuration (Mallin, 2012a). 4.6. Cable Installation The seabed along the proposed subsea cable route is sedimentary in nature throughout its length (Mallin, 2012a). This will allow for burial of the cable using jetting equipment. Water jetting consists of a sword carrying a row of water nozzles which is pushed down into the seafloor (ESBI, 2011). The high-pressure water flow from the nozzles fluidises the seafloor. While the water jetting unit is moving along the cable by self propulsion, the cable sinks down through the sediment. Soon after, the sediment re-solidifies.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

The cable in this case will be buried post-lay. A number of options are available for the cable laying operation and the final option selected will depend on vessel availability. The most suitable vessel for laying the cable would be a cable ship (Mallin, 2012a). These large vessels are purpose built to install cables and have all of the equipment and experienced personnel required. However, unless there is a cable ship on the west coast of Ireland for other work, it is unlikely to be economically justifiable. The alternative is to mobilise equipment for deployment on an existing local vessel. While the Marine Institute vessels do not seem suitable, it may be that a barge and tug combination can be adopted and fitted with cable equipment, and used for this installation. Precise specifications for such a vessel of opportunity will depend on what vessels are available in Galway Bay. However, a cable tank (or large cable storage winch), cable engine and stern chute will be required.

A post-lay jetting tool (see Figure 4-8) will be used for the straight east-west segment of the offshore route (Mallin, 2012a). There are a variety of designs of sleds that use surface jet pumps to fluidise the sediment beneath a cable in shallow water. These tools are more effective than divers on straight cables and may achieve a burial depth of up to 1m. They are managed by divers during launch and recovery.

The north-south segment and the turn to the east-west segment will be buried by divers using jetting equipment (see Figure 4-9). Post lay burial by divers using jetting equipment is conventionally used to lower the cable below the seabed surface to protect from damage in the nearshore region (Mallin, 2012a). Divers may not be able to lower the cable more than 300mm due to the limitations of their equipment. However, divers are the only option for sharply turning cable routes such as the route to the landing.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 4-8: Cable burial tool using surface jet pumps (Mallin, 2012a).

Figure 4-9: Diver using jetting equipment (Mallin, 2012a).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

5. BATHYMETRY & SEABED CONDITIONS

5.1. Existing Environment

5.1.1. Bathymetry Water depths (see Figure 5-1) along the cable route range from c. 22.5m at the eastern limit of the route to a maximum of 25m at the southernmost turning point (AMS, 2012). From this turning point, the seabed shoals northwards to the pier with depths decreasing gradually to 1.5m at the pier-end.

Figure 5-1: Bathymetry along the proposed cable route (Source: AMS, 2010;Tenix,, 2009).

5.1.2. Seabed Topography The seabed is relatively flat and featureless between the test site and the south western-most turning point (AMS, 2012). The northern approach is also relatively flat and featureless until approximately 500m from Spiddal pier (Mallin, 2012a; MERC, 2011). From here to the pier, the cable route follows a sediment channel which runs in between banks of exposed bedrock. This sediment channel is a palaeovalley extending from the Owenboluisce/Boluisce River estuary just to the east of Spiddal New Pier (Mallin, 2012a). This valley offers a clear and unobstructed route to the New Pier landfall site and is estimated as 15m wide at its narrowest point (ESBI, 2011;). Figure 5-1 shows the topography of the cable route.

41 Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

5.1.3. Seabed Sediments Multibeam backscatter data (Figure 5-2) indicates the presence of three distinctive areas of seabed texture along the routes: 1. Low Reflectivity/Smooth and Featureless; 2. High Reflectivity, Rough; and 3. Medium/High Reflectivity, Undulating (AMS, 2012).

The area surveyed from the test site to the south-western-most turning point is characterised by a smooth and featureless seabed exhibiting low reflectivity (AMS, 2012). Benthic samples from this section of the route reveal that muddy sands dominate (see Figure 5-3) (AQUAFACT, 2012).

The section of the route from the south-western-most turning point northwards to the proposed landing site at Spiddal is characterised by areas of rough seabed exhibiting high reflectivity and areas of undulating seabed exhibiting medium/high reflectivity (AMS, 2012). The rough seabed areas correspond to areas of rock/consolidated substrate outcrop. The undulating seabed areas are interpreted as representing sand ripples. Gravelly muddy sands were encountered along this section of the route just inside the 20m contour line (see Figure 5-3) (AQUAFACT, 2012; MERC, 2012) with muddy sands dominating again closer inshore towards the pier (MERC, 2012).

The shallow subtidal section of the route was confirmed to be sand by MERC (2011).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 5-2: Multibeam Backscatter Data (AMS, 2012).

Figure 5-3: Sediment type along the proposed cable route (AQUAFACT, 2012; MERC, 2012).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

5.1.4. Shallow Geology The shallow geology consists of bedrock unconformably overlain by unconsolidated sediment (AMS, 2012b). The unconsolidated sediment layer is interpreted to consist of muddy fine sand to coarse sand and possibly shelly gravel. The bedrock unit is interpreted to be granite bedrock or in deeper water a compacted unsorted sediment unit. The depth of sediment to bedrock can be seen in Figure 5-4. The bedrock attains its greatest depth beneath the seabed in the south-east of the area where it reaches a depth of 19m. This depth shallows to c. 6-8m at the south-western-most turning point (AMS, 2012). Bedrock does not outcrop anywhere along the centrelines of the proposed route (AMS, 2012). Along the northern route, bedrock outcrops at several locations. The selected route, runs in between these bedrock outcrops and along the route, bedrock depths range from less than 0.5m to 4m (AMS, 2012b; Minerex, 2012; Mallin, 2012a).

Figure 5-4. Depth to bedrock along the proposed cable route (AMS, 2012).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 5-5 Contour map of interpreted sediment thickness at the end of Spiddal Pier (west) and beach based on a seismic refraction survey (Minerex, 2012).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

5.2. Impacts

5.2.1. Seabed Topography The seafloor will re-solidify and return to its original condition following burial of the cable using a water jetting tool. Therefore, there will be no impact on seabed topography.

5.2.2. Seabed Sediments There will be some sediment remobilisation during the water jetting operation; however levels will be low and temporary. Coarse particles such as gravel and sand displaced by the jetting tool will settle out within a few meters of the operations. Finer muds are likely to be dispersed into the water column and carried some distance downstream before settling to the bottom. The seafloor in the vicinity of the majority of the proposed route is sedimentary in nature and therefore any remobilised and dispersed material will settle out on a seabed similar in nature to the settling sediment. This and the fact that quantities will be low suggest that there will be no significant impact on seabed sediments in the area. Rocky reef is located around the proposed route in the shallow area on the approach to shore. Any remobilised sediment in this area may settle out over the reefs. The sediments in this area are frequently remobilised and dispersed due to strong wave action. Since any disturbance will be local and short-lived, turbidity is not expected to have any impact on local fauna.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

6. OCEANOGRAPHY

The hydrodynamics of Galway Bay are regulated by variations in tidal height during the lunar cycle with strongest currents (c. 30 cm/s) occurring at spring tides and weakest (c. 20 cm/s) flows occurring at neap tides. The tide rises from the south and flows northwards and when the tidal stream meets the Connemara coastline, it is deflected westwards and leaves Galway Bay via the North Sound. These directions are reversed on ebb tides. Tidal current directions at the test site are therefore westwards on flooding tides and southwards on ebbing tides. Oceanic waters enter the Outer Bay mainly through the South Sound (between the Clare coast and Inisheer) and have been observed to follow an anti-clockwise circulation pattern before exiting through the North Sound (Booth, 1974).

The Boluisce River flows into the sea at Spiddal and when in spate gives rise to depressed salinities, particularly at the surface close to its mouth. There are a number of freshwater sources at the eastern end of Galway Bay: the River Corrib drains approximately 70% of the catchment area around Galway Bay with an average flow of 99 m3 s-1 (OPW, 2012), the Clarin and Corraun rivers contribute 11% of the total fresh water flow into Galway Bay while smaller rivers and diffuse sources contribute the remainder.

6.1. Existing Environment

6.1.1. Temperature & Salinity Sea surface temperatures in Galway Bay typically range from approximately 8˚C in January to 18.0˚C in August with bottom sea temperatures varying from 5˚C in February to 16.5˚C in August (O’Connor et al., 1983). In mid Galway Bay, recent data collected from a moored buoy by the Marine Institute showed an annual surface temperature ranging from 10˚C to 16˚C (IMOS, 2012). Annual surface and bottom salinities in Galway Bay range from 15.0 to 35.0 ppt depending on the location within the bay.

6.1.2. Tides & Currents The mean bottom current speed recorded at the ocean energy test site (over 3 full spring and neap tidal cycles) in 2007 was 9cm/s with a maximum speed of 34cm/s (see Figure 6-1). Current speed throughout the water column averaged 10cm/s with a maximum estimated at 33cm/s. This data is based on an ADCP(Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler)deployed at the site in 2007.

47 Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 6-1: ADCP data collected at Ocean Energy test site, Galway Bay (Source: Marine Institute)

Further data for the Spiddal test site area based on circulation models provided by the Oceanographic Services section in the Marine Institute (Lyons & Berry, OSIS Oceanographic Services, pers. comm. ) for surface and bottom currents over spring and neap tides are given in Figure 6-2 and Figure 6-3. A summary of data for surface and bottom currents over a spring tide for 17th June 2011 are given in Table 6-1 below.

Table 6-1 Surface and bottom current speeds on a spring tide at the Ocean Energy test site (Marine Institute, Oceanographic Services, Lyons & Berry, pers. comm. )

Date Tide Time Surface Currents Bottom Currents Direction Speed (cm/s) Speed (cm/s) 17/06/11 Spring Flood 15h00 19.35 – 27.14 8.80 – 10.95 East-North East 17/06/11 Spring Ebb 09h00 30.20 – 37.30 3.97 – 7.35 West – South West

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 6-2: Current speed and direction (flooding spring tide) around the ocean energy test site (Marine Institute, Oceanographic Services, Lyons & Berry, pers. comm. ).

Figure 6-3: Current speed and direction (ebbing spring tide) around the ocean Energy test site. (Marine Institute, Oceanographic Services, Lyons & Berry, pers. comm.)

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

The mean spring and neap tidal ranges at the Galway port tide gauge are 4.9 and 1.79 metres, respectively. The peak tidal velocities are in the order of 60 cm/s but average 25cm/s over a typical tidal cycle (O’Reilly et al., 2006).

6.1.3. Wave climate The north shore of Galway Bay is exposed to the prevailing west and south west winds. Wave data has been collected by the Marine Institute at the ocean energy test site since 2006 using a wave rider buoy (IMOS, 2012). Between November 2006 and November 2007, the average wave heights ranged from 1.3m in the winter months to 0.3m in the summer months. The maximum wave height measured during the same period was over 8m (December 2006). During the winter months, over 30% of the waves measured over 2m in height.

More recent wave rider buoy data based on a 3 year period from May 2008 to April 2011 can be seen in Figure 6-4 and Figure 6-5 (IMOS, 2012). Results indicated an average wave height of 0.75m with waves exceeding 2.5m occurring in many months during the year. The greatest percentage of waves exceeding 2.0m in height occurred in January and November (~4%- 8%).

Figure 6-4: Wave height data by month (2008-2011) collected at the ocean energy test site (Marine Institute, IMOS, 2012)

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 6-5: Waves exceeding 2m in height by month (2008-2011) at the ocean energy test site (Marine Institute, IMOS, 2012) 6.2. Impacts The installation and operation of the proposed cable will have no impact on oceanographic properties in the area.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

7. ECOLOGY

7.1. Existing Environment

7.1.1. Designated Conservation Sites Natura 2000 sites, i.e. Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and candidate Special Areas of Conservation are a network of sites designated across Europe in order to protect biodiversity within the EU. Candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSACs) are designated under the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), as transcribed into Irish law by the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations, 1997, while SPAs are designated under the EU Birds Directive (79/4089/EEC). At a national level, the basic unit of conservation is the Natural Heritage Area (NHA) which are designated to protect habitats, flora, fauna and geological sites of national importance.

Article 6 (3) of the EU Habitats Directive states that: “Any plan or project not directly connected with or necessary to the management of the Natura 2000 site but likely to have significant effect thereon, either individually or in combination with other plans or projects, shall be subject to appropriate assessment of its implications for the site in view of the site’s conservation objectives”. A Natura Impact Statement has been prepared for the project and a on the basis of that assessment it is concluded that there are not likely to be significant effects as a result of this proposed project.

The designated cSAC for Galway Bay is the Galway Bay Complex (Site Code: IE000268) and it is located along the eastern and southern shores of the Bay as illustrated in Figure 7-1. Much of this area is also a SPA for birds and an important RAMSAR site (protected wetland areas) (also shown in Figure 7-1.) The cSAC consists of a diverse range of marine, coastal and terrestrial protected habitats including several listed in Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive and is regarded as an area of high scientific importance. The ocean energy test site and the proposed cable route are located well outside the cSAC which is approximately 8.8 km to the east in the Inner Bay. The proposed cable route and landing points are not within any designated sites and therefore will have no impact on any of the protected cSAC habitats in Galway Bay.

The Black Head-Poulsallagh SAC (Site Code: IE 000020) complex encompasses a complete range of rocky Burren habitats from coastal, glacially planed limestone pavements to high level heaths. The proposed test bed is located approximately 9km from Blackhead-

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Poulsallagh Complex. The shoreline of this site has the best examples in Ireland of an important biogeographical variation of intertidal reefs extremely exposed to wave action, and these shores have been described as some of the most interesting open coast shores of both Britain and Ireland. The shores are gently sloping, stepped limestone pavements over most of the site but at Black Head the shore is narrow and very steely stepped. The proposed cable route and landing points are not within the sites and therefore will have no impact on any of the Annex I habitats and/or the Annex II species.

To the north of Spiddal is the Connemara Bog complex cSAC (Site Code: IE002034) which is an active blanket bog with various protected vegetation and aquatic habitats. From this region, small rivers and streams flow into Galway Bay and some of which can contain Annex II species of fish such as sea trout and Atlantic salmon, i.e., Boluisce and Inverin Rivers. The Moycullen Bogs NHA (Site Code: IE002064) is also located in this region and comprises an extensive area of lowland blanket bog which supports a diversity of habitats and protected species. Both of these designated sites can also be seen in Figure 7-1.

Though located over 10km from the ocean energy site and proposed cable route, the Lough Corrib cSAC (Site Code:000297) is an area of international importance for various Annex I bird species and water fowl including duck, geese and waders. Further west situated ca 8km from the Connemara coast lie the Aran Islands, the largest of which is Inishmore. This island is a designated as a cSAC (Site Code: 000213) and has birdlife that is internationally significant due to the presence of a number of Annex I species which are protected under the European Birds Directive. The island is also home to a small population of harbour seals which are listed under Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 7-1: Designated sites in the vicinity of the proposed development.

7.1.2. Intertidal Communities The landfall site (Spiddal pier) dries out at low water on a spring tide and exposes an intertidal zone consisting of a rocky fucoid reef at the foot of the pier surrounded by muddy sand. The boulders and cobbles at the foot of the pier are dominated by brown seaweeds such as the toothed wrack Fucus serratus and oarweed Laminaria digitata. Patches of sea lettuce Ulva lactuca and red encrusting algae are also present on the rocks. Empty scallop shells are present throughout. The pier wall itself is colonised by Fucus spp. All of these species are typical of the rocky intertidal fucoid reefs of the Co. Galway coastline and no rare, sensitive or unusual species were recorded.

7.1.3. Subtidal Communities The subtidal community present along the east-west section of the proposed cable route contains elements of two JNCC habitats: SS.SSA.CMuSa.AalbNuc Abra alba and Nucula nitidosa in circalittoral muddy sand or slightly mixed sediment (EUNIS Code: A5.261) and SS.SMU.ISaMu.MelMagThy Melinna palmata with Magelona spp. and Thyasira spp. in infralittoral sandy mud (EUNIS Code: A5.334) (AQUAFACT, 2012). The common species present are the polychates Chaetozone setosa, Spiophanes bombyx, Mediomastus fragilis, Owenia fusiformis, Tharyx killariensis, Diplocirrus glaucus, the bivalve Thyasira flexuosa, the amphipods Ampelisca brevicornis and Ampelisca diadema and the phoronid Phoronis sp.

The faunal community observed along the turning point of the proposed route (from an east- west orientation to north-south) conforms to the JNCC habitat SS.SMU.ISaMu.MelMagThy Melinna palmata with Magelona spp. and Thyasira spp. in infralittoral sandy mud (EUNIS

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Code: A5.334). This community was dominated by the polychaetes Melinna palmata, Monticellina cf dorsobranchialis, the gastropod Turritella communis the crustacean Tanaopsis graciloides , the bivalve Thyasira flexuosa, Nematoda sp. and Nemertea sp. (AQUAFACT, 2012; MERC, 2012).

The faunal community close to Spiddal pier conformed to the JNCC habitat SS.SSa.IFiSa.NcirBat Nephtys cirrosa and Bathyporeia spp. in infralittoral sands (EUNIS Code: A5.233) (MERC, 2012). The community was dominated by the amphipod Bathyporeia guillimansonia, and the polychaete Polycirrus. Also present were species typical of mobile sands such as interstitial polychaetes and Nephtys cirrosa.

All of the species present are typical of the area. No rare, sensitive or unusual species were recorded during this survey. Figure 7-2 shows the faunal communities observed along the proposed route.

Figure 7-2: Faunal communities along the proposed cable route (AQUAFACT, 2012; MERC, 2012).

7.1.4. Fish Communities A wide variety of demersal and pelagic fish species are likely to be present in the waters along the north shore of Galway Bay in the vicinity of Spiddal and Furbo. Some of the most common fish inhabiting or migrating seasonally through the area would include Pollack (Pollachius pollachius), Wrasse (Labrus bergylta), Whiting (Merlangius merlangus), Plaice (Pleuronectes

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

platessa), Brill (Scophthalmus rhombus), Sole (Solea solea), Turbot (Psetta maxima), Mackerel (Scomber scombrus), Sprat (Sprattus sprattus), Sand Eels (Ammodytidae), Herring (Clupea harengus). Cod (Gadus morhua), Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), Saithe (Pollachius virens), Conger Eel (Conger conger), Atlantic Salmon (Salmon salar) and Sea Trout (Salmo trutta). Elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) such as Thornback Ray (Raja clavata), Dogfish (Scyliorhinus caniculus), Spurdog (Squalus acanthias) and Tope (Galeorhinus galeus) are seasonally relatively common off Spiddal. Species inhabiting the inter-tidal zone include the blennies, bearded rockling and butterfish. Annex II fish species such as Atlantic Salmon, Sea Trout and Lamprey may seasonally occur at the mouth of the Boluisce River especially during May to July as they move up river.

7.1.5. Marine Mammals

Irish waters have a rich diversity of whales and dolphins with 24 species being recorded around various parts of the coast (Berrow, 2001) through a combination of sightings and strandings. Of all cetacean species worldwide, 28% have been recorded in Ireland . Under Article 12 of the EU Habitats Directive, all cetaceans occurring in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) are strictly protected. Under Article 4, cSACs must be proposed for the protection of Bottlenose Dolphins, Harbour Porpoises, Common and Grey Seals. National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) have also developed codes of practice for protecting marine mammals during acoustic seafloor surveys in Irish waters.

The Galway Bay Complex SAC (000268) comprises a diverse range of marine, coastal and terrestrial habitats and includes some of the best examples of shallow bays, reefs, lagoons and salt marshes in the country (Galway Bay Complex, Site Synopsis, www.npws.ie). The site supports an important common seal colony and a breeding otter population, both of which are listed under Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive but no cetacean species are listed as qualifying interests of the site.

Several species of cetaceans are known to breed in Irish waters including the harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena, common dolphin Delphinus delphis, bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncates, Risso dolphin Grampus griseus, white sided and white beaked dolphins Lagenorhynchus acutus and L. albirostris and pilot whale Globiocephala melas (Berrow 2001). Other cetacean species such as the blue whale Balaenoptera musculus, fin whale B. physalus and humpback whale Megaptera novaegliana migrate annually along the western seaboard (Charif and Clark, 2000). Recent investigations have confirmed that many of these species feed year-round and in some

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

cases over-winter in Irish waters. Other species such as beluga and killer whale Orca sp. are vagrants and are relatively rare in coastal waters around Ireland.

Historical reviews of sightings, strandings and captures of cetaceans in Ireland were published by Schariff (1900), Moffat (1938), O’Riordan (1972) and Berrow and Rogan (1997) among others (Table 1), which include a number of references to cetaceans in Galway Bay. The only contemporary data on the distribution and abundance of cetaceans in Galway Bay is from sightings data collected as part of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) sighting scheme in operation since 1991and more recently through dedicated work carried out by O’Brien (2009) and Berrow et al., (2008). Of the 24 cetacean species recorded in Irish waters, 16 species have been recorded in Galway Bay, seven species have been recorded both stranded and visually observed, and two species have only been recorded observed, while nine species are known only to occur through strandings (Table 7-1). There are limitations associated with strandings data, as it may be that the animals washed up originated outside of the study area, and therefore provide false data on the presence of certain species in an area O’Brien, (2013).

Berrow et al. (2002), analysed 2,200 visual sighting records from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) and found 13.2% of all records were from Co. Galway, with harbour porpoises been the most frequently reported species, and Galway producing the third most sightings of the species in the country. Most records were reported between June and August, with few sightings in the winter and spring. Berrow et al. (2002) also showed that Bottlenose dolphins were the third most frequently sighted species in the country, with concentrations of sightings occurring within Galway Bay. They also showed that bottlenose dolphin sightings increased rapidly from April to June, suggesting an inshore movement, which peaked in August. In more recent years this was not found to be the case. O’Brien (2009) found that Harbour porpoise was the most regularly recorded species but dolphin sightings of any species were rare.

A total of 28 dedicated land-based visual watches were carried out from Spiddal Pier (2700 minutes/45 hours) between March 2005 and February 2007 O’Brien (2013). Cetaceans were recorded during 10 of the 27 watches (37%). A total of 16 sighting were recorded during watches comprising of three species; including, harbour porpoise (81%), bottlenose dolphin (13%) and Minke whale (7%). Only a single sighing of two harbour seals was recorded on one occasion. All sightings recorded were within a 5km radius of Spiddal pier. Most sightings (75%) were recorded between the months June to December with only 25% of sightings recorded in the period January to May, highlighting mid-summer through to December as the months when porpoises are most active at the site. These results are similar to results from SAM 1 and SAM 2

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

(see below for Static Acoustic Monitoring results). However, when data is compared to other sites in the bay, Spiddal isn’t the most important (O’Brien, 2013).

Figure 7-3 Visual sighting data as recorded from Spiddal Pier, March 2005 to February 2007(O’Brien, 2013)

Table 7-1 Calculations of harbour porpoise relative abundance from Black Head, Spiddal and Fanore, 2005-2007 (O’Brien, 2013).

Site No.of No. of % Total no. of Relative abundance watches watches HP (harbour porpoises when HP hour-1) recorded Black 31 18 58 110 2.12 hr-1 Head Spiddal 28 8 29 32.5 0.69 hr-1 Fanore 29 10 36 38.5 0.79 hr-1

Table 7-2 Details of deployment locations and T-POD numbers assigned to the site over the duration of the study,(SAM1). (O’Brien, 2013).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Location Site Deployment Recovery T- Deployment date date POD duration No. Galway Bay Spiddal 12.05.2006 17.06.2006 404 36d 8h 0m Galway Bay Spiddal 04.07.2006 23.12.2006 505 43d 21h 58m Galway Bay Spiddal 03.10.2006 09.11.2006 451 37d 4h 37m Galway Bay Spiddal 09.11.2006 23.12.2006 324 43d 23h 41m Galway Bay Spiddal 01.02.2007 26.03.2007 505 52d 23h 18m Galway Bay Spiddal 26.03.2007 12.04.2007 506 0d 0h 19m Galway Bay Spiddal 12.04.2007 12.06.2007 652 61d 9h 38m Galway Bay Spiddal 12.06.2007 10.07.2007 568 28d 0h 03m Galway Bay Spiddal 10.07.2007 01.08.2007 506 21d 18h 41m

The results from analysed and compared by O’Brien (2013) showed that harbour porpoises were detected on average during 88% of days monitored at Spiddal, while dolphin detections were only recorded 3% of the time (Table 3). The highest number of harbour porpoise detection positive (PPM) minutes (1001dpm) was recorded from Spiddal in October, 2006.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Table 7-3 Detection Details from T-POD Deployments at Spiddal (O’Brien, 2013).

Details Porpoise detections Dolphin detections Year Location Month No. days % of days Total % of days Total deployed with PPM with DPM porpoise dolphin detections detections 2006 Spiddal May 20 100 241 5 1 Spiddal June 17 94 165 0 0 Spiddal July 28 100 271 4 1 Spiddal August 17 94 129 6 1 Spiddal October 29 97 1001 0 0 Spiddal November 31 100 637 5 1 Spiddal December 23 100 265 0 0 2007 Spiddal February 28 43 22 0 0 Spiddal March 26 58 50 4 1 Spiddal April 19 100 179 0 0 Spiddal May 31 97 373 0 0 Spiddal June 19 100 136 0 0 Spiddal July 10 100 102 0 23 Spiddal September 30 73 104 7 2 Spiddal October 5 80 16 0 0

Figure 7-4 Harbour porpoise detections per month (O’Brien, 2013).

As harbour porpoises were detected frequently at the OE test site off Spiddal during the SAM 2 study, it afforded an opportunity to test its potential effect on the presence of cetaceans (O’Brien et al., 2012). SAM was carried out on a continuous basis at the wave platform, so it

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was decided to assess if there was a difference in detection rate at two additional sites, 1,000m east of the device and 500m west of the device. Light weight moorings were established at each of these additional sites and a single C-POD was deployed. The presence of the wave platform, which is of substantial size (28 tonne), could have had a positive or negative effect on the occurrence of harbour porpoises in the area:

The presence of such a structure may deter animals. They may not be able to sufficiently forage for food as the structure may impact on their echolocation ability. This event is highly unlikely at Spiddal given the high percentage of days with detections. Or the platform itself may act as a cover for many fish species and, therefore, attract fish to the area and, in turn, feeding porpoises. International studies have found that wave buoys can serve as artificial reefs and attract fish and other marine life. In fact, in some parts of the world, conventional buoys are deployed to serve as "Fish Attracting Devices" (FADs) (Nelson, 2003).

Results from this short deployment failed to show a significant difference in detections between sites (P=0.001), suggesting the OE platform did not influence harbour porpoise presence.

Figure 7-5 : Results from C-POD deployments from LWMs and ES-WP

The aim of the study conducted by O’Brien (2013) was to compile archived data from available sources and to explore the presence of small cetaceans in the vicinity of the OE Test Site, east of Spiddal on the north shore of Galway Bay. These results were taken from O’Brien

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

(2009) and from the PReCAST project designed to address a wide range of issues and will contribute to developing policy advice on meeting Irelands’ statutory obligations (O’Brien et al., (2012). Results from visual and acoustic monitoring are very similar as all show that autumn and winter months are when porpoises are most active at the site. Visual data shows that in comparison with other sites in the bay subjected to land-based watches, Spiddal is not the most important, with a greater relative abundance recorded from Black Head on the south shore. Porpoises are present at the site on an almost daily basis, 88% of days (total 333 days) using T-PODs and on 95% of days (total 572 days) using C-PODs. This information was gathered independent of weather conditions and darkness but is limited due to lack of information on abundance.. Galway Bay supports an important population of harbour porpoise (Berrow et al., 2008), with an adult to calf ratio similar to other sites around Ireland. Through SAM further valuable information can be gathered on how animals use a monitored site by looking for behaviour characteristics in the dataset. Behavioural analyses from Spiddal show that porpoises are found to occur in all months but spring was found to have the lowest number of detections. Additionally exploring the train characteristics of porpoises at the site show it to be regularly used as a feeding location (41% (60,386 trains) of the total click trains fell under the category foraging), especially during the winter months during night-time hours. It is important to note that during the C-POD study 2009-2010, the wave energy device was in place at the OE Test Site and hence facilitated an experiment under the PReCAST programmed to determine if this artificial structure had an impact on presence. Results failed to show a significant difference in detections between sites suggesting the OE platform did not influence harbour porpoise presence.

Clearly the area at Spiddal is an important habitat for the Harbour porpoise with the almost daily presence at the site. This presence is influenced by seasonal, diel and tidal factors. As harbour porpoises (Annex II species of the Habitats Directive) are present throughout the year and entitled to strict habitat protection, care must be taken to ensure this development does not degrade this habitat or cause undue disturbance. These visual SAM results will serve to inform protocols of best practice for the area if work is to go ahead and thus ensure the presence of small cetaceans in the area is not negatively impacted upon. Mitigation measures should take into account the acoustic disturbance of marine mammals at the site as cable‐laying will occur both within the water and on land, and associated noise input should be reviewed to minimise displacement and to prevent habitat exclusion or hearing impacts such TTS (Temporary threshold shift) or PTS (Permanent Threshold Shift) (O’Brien, 2013).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Two species of seal commonly occur in Irish waters, with the harbour seal Phoca vitulina and the grey seal Halichoerus grypus being the most important. Both species have established haul-out sites along the shores in various bays and inlets and on rock outcrops and small islands. The local seal populations forage for fish locally and are thought to move extensively between areas. They usually return to the haul-out sites to breed and rear their pups. The harbour seals are found more in sheltered bays and inlets whereas the grey seals are located on exposed rocky shores and steeply shelving sandbanks.

In Inner Galway Bay, much of the harbour seal populations occur on the south shore with haul-out sites located around Tawin, Island Eddy, Kinvara Bay and Deer Island. In 2003, an all Ireland aerial survey of seal populations found that 17% of all harbour seals occurred in Co. Galway with up to 62 haul-out sights being observed throughout the region (Cronin et al., 2004). Very few seal haul-out sites occur along the exposed north shore of Inner Galway Bay and are not known to occur in the Spiddal area. Both harbour seals and common seals are protected species under the Wildlife (Amendment Act 1976 - 2005) and Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive.

7.1.6. Seabirds & Waterfowl The test site, cable route and landfall site do not overlap with any designated sites of European importance (i.e. SPA or cSAC) or of National importance (i.e. NHA). SPAs are specifically designated for the protection of birds.

The test site is located approximately 9km west of the Inner Galway Bay SPA (Site Code: IE004031) and the proposed landfall site is approximately 12km west of it.

Inner Galway Bay SPA supports the greatest diversity of water birds in the country and contains internationally important numbers of Great Northern Divers and Light-bellied Brent Geese (Boland & Crowe, 2012). The site also supports a further 20 species which inhabit the area in nationally important numbers i.e. Cormorant, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Red-breasted Merganser, Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing. Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Red-throated Diver, Little Grebe, Curlew, Redshank, Greenshank, Turnstone, Grey Heron and Mute Swan (O’Donoghue, 2011), 2011; Bowland & Crowe, 2012; NPWS, 2005). Inner Galway Bay is the only regular site for Black-throated Divers and supports the highest numbers (Boland & Crowe, 2012). The site also holds significant concentrations of Black Headed, Common Gulls and Herring Gulls (Boland & Crowe, 2012). Seven of the regularly occurring species are listed on Annex I of the EU Birds Directive

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

(2009/147/EC), i.e. Great Northern Diver, Red-throated Diver, Black-throated Diver, Golden Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sandwich Tern and Common Tern.

Crowe (2005) noted that between the five-year peak (1994/95 – 1998/99) and the peak to 2000/01 wildfowl numbers increased by 14% and waders by 25% in Inner Galway Bay. Mean counts of approximately 17,700 wildfowl, waders and gulls were recorded over the five-year period between 2005/06 and 2009/10 (Crowe et al., 2011). This reflects a 14% decrease from the mean value of just over 20,000 between the 6-year period (1999/00 – 2004/05) (Boland & Crowe, 2006). In Inner Galway Bay SPA the majority of birds frequent the north east and east of the Inner Bay including the numerous small islands in the vicinity where large concentrations of roosting waders are found. The open water habitats are of particular importance for Great Northern Divers, Little Grebe, Cormorant and Red-breasted Merganser. Golden Plover, Lapwing and Curlew regularly move inland to feed in the fields, returning to the shoreline in large numbers when the ground is frozen in winter. Some divers, seaducks and gulls are occasionally located far offshore and out of observational range when sea conditions are rough.

Key species that are common to the rocky coastline in the Spiddal – Furbo region are gulls (Black-headed Gull, Common Gull and Herring Gull), waders (Oystercatchers, Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone) and fish eating species such as Grey Heron and Cormorant (O’Donoghue, 2011). Duck such as Mallard are also recorded with Great Northern Diver and Common Scoter occurring more offshore. Rock pipit and Pied Wagtail are likely to be found along the shoreline as well as migrating Whimbrel en route to other parts of Ireland. Where the shore line is more varied, species such as Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover and Sanderling may occur. Along the proposed cable route to the south and east of Spiddal, the most notable species observed were Cormorant, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Herring Gull and Black-header Gull. No notable aggregations of Great Northern Diver were present. Unlike muddy estuaries, the number of birds found along rocky shorelines such as Spiddal and Furbo are low and well dispersed, concentrating in small numbers where suitable habitats occur.

Fully marine species such as gannet, storm petrel, fulmar, common shearwater, sooty shearwater, auks and skuas are also present at the site.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

7.2. Impacts

7.2.1. Designated Conservation Sites Given the distance to the designated sites in the vicinity of the proposed cable route there will be no impact on the functioning and integrity of the conservation sites.

7.2.2. Intertidal Community The proposed cable route will avoid the rocky reef and boulder areas on the approach to the pier. Re-suspended sediment will not negatively impact on the reef communities as levels will be low, short-term and temporary.

7.2.3. Subtidal Communities The cable laying operation will have a short-term negative impact on benthic communities. The fluidisation of the sedimentary seafloor by the water jetting tool will disturb the benthic faunal communities along the proposed cable route. All larger mobile fauna will migrate away from the area as the jetting tool approaches e.g. crabs, demersal fish buried in the sand etc. However, polychaete worms, molluscs and crustaceans are not likely to be damaged and would rapidly re-colonise the nearby areas within a matter of hours. Any disturbance to the benthic habitats during the cable laying process will be very localised with greatest effects within a 10m corridor each side of the cable route. It is expected that the temporary disturbance of the seabed and remobilisation of sediments and plumes associated with the cable laying operation will have no long-term effect on the benthic ecology or habitat along the cable route. Much of the remobilised coarser sediment will settle out onto the seabed within a few meters of the excavated trench. Finer fractions of mud are likely to be carried downstream in plumes and will settle out of suspension within 100m of the route (depending on amount of fine silt in the deposits and the stage of the tidal cycle). Overall the levels of suspended solids and plumes generated will be relatively low and the operations will be of short duration with no significant long-term impact expected.

Reef habitats are included in the Annex I list under the EU Habitats Directive. In the case of the Galway Bay Cable Project, the proposed cable route will avoid the rocky reef and boulder areas on the approach to shore. Re-suspended sediment will not negatively impact on the reef communities as levels will be low, short-term and temporary.

7.2.4. Fish Communities The cable laying operation will involve burying the cable to a depth of between 700mm beneath the sediment using a water jetting machine along the route from the shore to the test site. During this process, local disturbance associated with the trenching process,

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

sediment re-suspension and activities by divers are likely to affect fish species swimming or living in the immediate vicinity and close-by to the cable. This impact will only be temporary with fish returning to the area once the operations cease.

The presence of the cable will not impact the migration path of Atlantic Salmon, Sea Trout and Lamprey since it will be buried beneath the sediment and covered with cast iron protectors within 100m of the landfall site for additional protection. In addition, the cable will not traverse the mouth of the Boluisce River but will have a landing point and junction box at the end of Spiddal Pier. Little or no electromagnetic frequency (EMF) will be emitted since the cable is essentially for data and telecommunication with a very low capacity for electrical power i.e. 400V DC; 3.5kW. Local turbidity during the cable laying process as a result of the cable operation is not expected to have any impact on local fish species.

7.2.5. Marine Mammals Marine mammals are sensitive to underwater noise. The cable laying operation will be a source of temporary acoustic disturbance within the local marine environment (likely to be over two days) by producing sounds with combined low and high frequency components (Goold, 1996) which may potentially affect local populations of dolphins, harbour porpoises and seals. The physiological effects of exposure to loud underwater noises can include temporary or permanent shifts in hearing thresholds which can impact an animal’s ability to forage, communicate, navigate and mate. However, the degree of response of marine mammals to underwater noise depends on the source intensity levels, degree of background noise, distance from source, species involved, behavioural state and season as well as age, sex and time of day. The only source of underwater noise as a result of the cable laying operation will be from the water jetting tool, sounds emitted from divers SCUBA gear and engine noise from the cable laying vessel.

Based on the precautionary principle, the potential impacts of noise in the dredging range of frequencies are further considered as part of the cable laying operation. The excavation of sand, gravel, loose rock and other material from the seabed during dredging operations is common, particularly in coastal waters where harbour works and channel maintenance commonly require such activity. In addition to the sound from attendant vessels, dredging operations have been reported to produce low frequency omnidirectional sound of several tens of Hz to several thousand Hz (and up to approximately 20 kHz) at sound pressure levels of 135-186 dB re: 1 µPa (NPWS, 2012). Therefore some coastal dredging operations can be detected at received levels (RL) exceeding ambient sound more than 10km from shore. While

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

sound exposure levels from such operations are thought to be below that expected to cause injury to a marine mammal, they have the potential to cause lower level disturbance, masking or behavioural impacts, for example.

Dredging/jetting activity tends to occur in a fixed area for a prolonged period of days or weeks – in this case it is anticipated that the cable can be installed over a period of two days. The risk of acoustic impacts associated with this activity will be considered to ensure good environmental management during the cable laying operations. These are based on the NPWS - Draft Guidance to Manage the Risk to Marine Mammals from Man-made Sound Sources (2012). The measures for risk minimisation have been incorporated into technical guidance from the NPWS and are as follows: 1. A qualified and experienced marine mammal observer (MMO) should be appointed to monitor for marine mammals and to log all relevant events using standardised data forms. 2. The MMO must advise the Works Superintendent within a previously agreed timeframe prior to scheduled activity if environmental conditions (e.g., sea state, light, visibility) are insufficient for effective visual monitoring. In such conditions, the activity of concern should be postponed until acceptable conditions prevail. 3. In the event of suitable environmental conditions, a clear on-site communication signal must be agreed between the MMO and the Works Superintendent as to whether the relevant activity may or may not proceed, or resume following a break (see below). It should only proceed on positive confirmation with the MMO, which must be recorded by the MMO. 4. In waters up to 200m deep, the MMO should conduct pre-start-up constant effort monitoring at least 30 minutes before the sound-producing activity is due to commence, continuing monitoring during and for 30 minutes following the activity. Sound-producing activity should not commence until at least 30 minutes have elapsed with no marine mammal detections by the on-site MMO. 5. Where operations occur in waters >200m depth, pre-start-up monitoring should be conducted at least 60 minutes before the activity is due to commence, with monitoring continuing during and for 60 minutes following the activity. Sound- producing activity should not commence until at least 60 minutes have elapsed with no marine mammal detections by the on-site MMO. 6. Unless information specific to the location is otherwise available to inform the mitigation process (e.g., sound attenuation data), operations should not commence if

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

marine mammals are detected within a 500m radial distance of the intended sound source, i.e., within the Monitored Zone. 7. Once begun, the activity may continue if weather conditions deteriorate or if marine mammals enter the 500m-radius Monitored Zone following start-up. 8. If there is a break in dredging or drilling activity for a period greater than 30 minutes then all preactivity monitoring measures should recommence as for start-up. 9. Full reporting on MMO operations and mitigation undertaken should be provided to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to facilitate reporting under Article 17 of the EC Habitats Directive and future improvements to guidance.

Additional marine mammal expertise relating to mitigating impacts at the ocean energy site was sought (O’Brien, 2013). The advice from this expert included the following additional mitigation measures: 1. Target work to take place when porpoise presence is at its lowest, e.g. during the spring or early summer. 2. Only carry out observations during daylight hours. 3. Carryout SAM at the site during and after installation works to assess if avoidance behaviour is recorded and if so for how long it persists.

With appropriate mitigation it is unlikely that work at the site over a short duration will have an impact on harbour porpoises through habitat exclusion or noise impacts (O’Brien, 2013).

During the cable laying operations, any disturbed and re-mobilised fine sediment plumes will affect the water quality in the immediate vicinity of the jetting. Coarse particles such as gravel and sand displaced by the jetting tool will settle out within a few meters of the operations. Finer muds are likely to be disbursed into the water column and carried c. 100m downstream (depending on state of the tide) before settling to the bottom. Since any disturbance will be local and short-lived, turbidity is not expected to have any impact on local biota.

7.2.6. Seabirds & Waterfowl The cable route does not overlap with any sites designated as being of conservation concern and it does not impact on estuarine habitats for which Inner Galway Bay is listed.

The main impact is likely to be the short-term displacement of a small number of species (e.g. Oystercatcher, Curlew and Turnstone) that use the shoreline during the cable-laying

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

operation. This can largely be avoided by timing the works between March and September when wintering shorebird numbers are largely absent. A number of subtidal feeding species (e.g. Cormorant, Great Northern Diver, Sandwich Tern and Common Tern) which forage in the shallow subtidal may also be temporarily displaced during the cable-laying operation. This displacement will be short-term (1-2days) and any disturbance to the seafloor will also be short-term as the process of jetting the cable into the seafloor returns the seafloor to its original state almost immediately. Timing of the works between March and September will minimise the disturbance to the Great Northern Diver and Cormorant, however terns visit the site in the Summer/Autumn months so it will not be possible to time works to avoid disturbance impacts on all species. However, given the scale of the proposed works when viewed in the context of what species and numbers of birds are likely to use the area, it is unlikely that the proposed works would result in a significant negative impact on birds of conservation concern.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

8. ARCHAEOLOGY & CULTURAL HERITAGE

8.1. Existing Environment There are no indications of unrecorded archaeological features at the landfall site (Kieran, 2012). There are three Record of Monument and Places (RMP) sites in Spiddal village (Kieran, 2012). A series of new cable ducts will be installed along the existing roadway and footpath from the landfall site to the centre of the village (see Figure 8-1). This duct will pass adjacent to two of the RMP sites (GA:092:02 and GA:092:021). GA:092:02 is an 18th/19th Century house and GA:092:021 is an Abbey (now destroyed) and a graveyard.

Figure 8-1: Cable route and RMP sites in the vicinity of the route - Extract from County Galway RMP Sheet no 92 showing ducting route in magenta.

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8.1.1. Subtidal Cable Route Side-scan sonar and magnetometer surveys revealed no potential shipwrecks or RMP sites along the subtidal cable route (Kieran, 2012). The sub-bottom profiler data indicated the presence of an unconsolidated sediment filled palaeovalley which extends from the Boluisce River estuary just to the east of Spiddal New Pier.

8.2. Impacts 8.2.1. Landfall Site & Onshore Cable Route The onshore cable route will not pass through any of the RMP sites in Spiddal village but it will pass adjacent to two of them (Kieran, 2012). Traditionally, cemetery delimiting walls do not always define the boundary of the grounds and additional burials are often discovered outlying the graveyard walls. If the cable is to pass close to this RMP, there is the potential that the cable ducting operations may impact recorded and previously unrecorded archaeological material. A programme of archaeological monitoring should be carried out of the terrestrial ducting operations. This program of monitoring should be based mainly in the vicinity of the two RMP sites. Where the likelihood of impacting archaeology is very low, the frequency of the programme of archaeological monitoring should reflect this.

8.2.2. Subtidal Cable Route Invasive investigations in the palaeovalley area, either through sampling or trenching have the potential to negatively impact any archaeological material which may be present (Kieran, 2012). The cable burial depth is predicted to be 0.5m. The palaeovalley sediments are considerably deeper than this and so if the development were to proceed on either of these route options, it is unlikely that the works will impact these horizons. Notwithstanding this, the excavation of the seafloor to facilitate the installation of a submarine cable would have the potential to have a direct, negative and long term effect on any archaeology which may be present. Should any material of an archaeological nature be uncovered by the divers during the cable installation, the Underwater Archaeology Unit will be informed immediately for an assessment.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

9. HUMAN ACTIVITIES

9.1. Existing Environment

9.1.1. Commercial Fishing & Aquaculture Activities Inner Galway Bay has valuable crustacean fisheries with annual landings exceeding 100 tonnes (Tully et al., 2010). Most of the fishing activities (mainly potting) takes place along the northeast shore of Galway Bay with over 45% of catches comprising of shrimp (Palaemon serratus). The distribution of various fishing and aquaculture activities in Galway Bay is shown in Figure 9-1.

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Figure 9-1. Fishing and Aquaculture activities in Galway Bay (Source: Marine Institute)

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There is high seasonal fishing effort in the coastal waters off Furbo and Spiddal which comprises several boats (6 - 10m in length) fishing for lobsters, shrimps and velvet crabs. Pots are set along rocky areas and over stretches of sand in water depths of up to 22m usually in strings of 20-30 pots. Each vessel operates between 200 and 500 pots. Vessels are based at Spiddal and Barna and most of the fishermen are members of the Galway Bay Inshore Fishermen’s Association (GBIFA).

Shrimp fishing takes place mainly in late Autumn, Winter and Spring and is particularly active from August to January. There is a closed season for shrimp fishing over a three month period between May and August. Lobster and velvet crab fishing is usually carried out in the Summer months from June to October with no closed season for catching these species.

Line fishing for mackerel and pollack takes place in the Summer months from small inshore boats and from the shore at various locations between Furbo and Spiddal. Some inshore boats also use trammel nets (bottom anchored net) to catch wrasse, pollack and edible crab over rocky reefs.

Some limited bottom trawling for Dublin Bay prawn (Nephrops norvegicus) and demersal fish species such as plaice, haddock and cod is carried out by a few small trawlers (10 to 15m) just to the west of test site and in the vicinity of the proposed cable route. Further to the west in deeper waters off Inverin and in the central parts of Outer Galway Bay larger trawlers operate occasionally.

Only one area is designated for aquaculture along the north shore of Galway Bay and it is located approximately 12km west of the test site off Spiddal. This site has been designated for shellfish and is a mussel growing site operating mainly long-line systems.

The Owenboluisce River drains several lakes in a catchment stretching over 12km to the north of Spiddal. It is approximately 5km long and flows through Spiddal Demesne and into Galway Bay at Spiddal Pier. The river contains Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), Trout (Salmo trutta), Lamprey and occasional Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus). Atlantic Salmon (in their freshwater environment) and Lampreys are Annex II protected species under the Habitats Directive. Small runs of Salmon grilse and Sea Trout occur in the Summer months with fish moving into the estuary and up the river during May to July. The river and its environs are important components of the areas biodiversity and link with a designated ecological site to

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the north of the Spiddal Demesne and the coastal area to the south of the village (CAAS Environmental Services Ltd., 2008).

9.1.2. Tourism & Leisure Activities Spiddal has swimming beaches that are popular with both local and tourist visitors in summer months and have important amenity value. Ceibh an Spideil is located inside the New Pier where the cable will make landfall , Trá na mBan is located east of the village. Under the Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008, both beaches were designated and classified as having good water quality by the EPA in 2011 (EPA, 2011). Céibh an Spideil beach was awarded blue flag status in 2012. Other activities include shore angling, boating and canoeing and sailing that, take place especially in the Spiddal area where there are good services and two piers. A number of sea angling charter boats operate out of Spiddal and good catches of mackerel, pollack, wrasse, ray and tope shark are regularly taken in season. Other activities include diving, leisure boating, bay cruises and local heritage trips along the coastal area.

The shoreline along the coast off Spiddal is very exposed and open directly to the prevailing south west and west winds. Although there are no designated vessel mooring, yacht anchorage facilities or sites in the area which could interfere with the proposed cable; local yachts sometimes anchor for short periods off Spiddal pier during summer months.

Local and tourist ferries operating in Galway Bay are based out of Galway Harbour, Ros a’ Mhíl and Doolin and their routes are well to the south and west of the test site and proposed cable route. Shipping to and from Galway Port navigates up to 10km to the south of Spiddal through the central part of the Bay. Vessels reach the open ocean through the deep water channel in the North Sound between Inishmore and the Connemara mainland or south west between Inisheer and the Clare coast. The distribution of various tourism and leisure activities, including ferry and shipping routes and channels, is given in Figure 9-2.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Figure 9-2: Marine Tourism and Leisure activities in Galway Bay (Source: Marine Institute). 9.2. Impacts

9.2.1. Commercial Fishing & Aquaculture Activities The cable installation will have no impact on aquaculture activities given the distance to the nearest site.

The cable laying operation will involve burying the cable to a depth of 700mm beneath the sediment using a water jetting machine along the route from the shore to the test site. During this process, local disturbance associated with the trenching process and activities by divers are likely to affect fish species living in the immediate vicinity and close-by to the cable. This impact will only be temporary with fish returning to the area once the operations cease.

The presence of the cable will not impact the migration path of Atlantic Salmon, Sea Trout and Lamprey as it will be buried beneath the sediment and covered with cast iron protectors within 100m of the landfall site for additional protection. There will not be any in-stream works. We do not anticipate any obstruction to the river or estuary during the cable laying process which will take place over 1-2 days, the cable will be floated into the shallow section of the estuary using buoys and placed in-situ by divers. Divers will also install and bury the cable in the foreshore section and around the base of the pier. Staff from Inland Fisheries Ireland will meet with the cable installation team in Spiddal in advance of the cable lay if required (Gargan, pers. comm.).

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

Little or no electromagnetic field (EMF) will occur since the cable is essentially for data and telecommunication with a very low capacity for electrical power i.e. 400 V DC 3.5kW. (for more detail see Section 10).

Local turbidity during the cable laying process as a result of the cable operation is not expected to have any impact on local fish species.

The cable laying operations may disrupt local fishing activities taking place close to the cable route. However, this will be short-term (1-2 days) and temporary and consultation will take place with local fishermen prior to operations commencing.

9.2.2. Tourism & Leisure Activities Anchors from yachts are not likely to represent a potential hazard to the cable provided it is buried below 700mm of sediment and protected by cast iron piping. Potential threats to the cable do exist in the event of engine failure or similar loss of control in the case of large vessels which might have to drop anchor to prevent beaching. Although such an event would be considered very rare, the burial of the cable is unlikely to protect against such an incident since the flukes of a freighter anchor could easily penetrate over a meter into the seabed.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

10. ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS (EMF)

Environmental concerns regarding offshore renewable energy sometimes focus on the potential effects of electromagnetic fields from electricity cables on the marine environment and in some studies, it is mandatory to describe the potential impacts from EMF in an environmental impact assessment.

The International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) is the World Health Organisation’s non-governmental organisation (NGO) advisor on non-ionising radiation matters. ICNIRP issued guidelines for exposure to time-varying EMF (up to 300 GHz), including power-frequency exposure limits, in 1998.

ICNIRP reviewed the cumulative body of existing scientific literature on EMF and health, and set the basic restriction for the induced current density in the central nervous system as 10 mA/m2 and 2 mA/m2, respectively for occupational and general public exposure. Since it is not possible to directly measure induced current density, ICNIRP produced reference levels for both electric and magnetic field exposure, which are assumed to correlate to the induced current density restrictions under a number of suppositions.

The reference levels for residential and occupational magnetic field exposure are 100 μT and 500 μT, respectively, and 5 kV/m and 10 kV/m for electric field exposure, respectively. The ICNIRP guidelines have been endorsed and adopted by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2002 and WHO, 2007), the European Council (EC, 1999), and many national regulatory agencies, including the Irish Government (DCMNR). It should be noted that as applied in the EU these exposure guidelines apply only where members of the public could be expected to spend significant periods of time (EC, 1999).

In 2010 ICNIRP issued a statement on the “Guidelines For Limiting Exposure To Time- Varying Electric, Magnetic, and Electromagnetic Fields (UP TO 300 Ghz)” which indicated that in their opinion the scientific literature published since the 1998 guidelines has provided no evidence of any adverse effects below the basic restrictions and does not necessitate an immediate revision of its guidance on limiting exposure to high frequency electromagnetic fields.

Some marine organisms, e.g. whales, eels, salmon, turtles and fish, are able to detect both natural geomagnetic fields for navigational purposes and the electric fields emitted from

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other organisms enabling them to detect prey and possible potential predators (mainly sharks and rays). One concern is that when anthropogenic sources of magnetic and electric fields are introduced into the marine environment, that there is a potential for those organisms to be affected.

Olsen and Larsson (2009) conducted an extensive review of the impacts of electromagnetic fields from sub-sea power cables on marine organisms and concluded that research to date has found that sub-sea power cables pose no threat to the marine environment due to EMF. Additional work commissioned in the UK on behalf of the Collaborative Offshore Wind Energy Research into the Environment (COWRIE) concluded that there was no solid evidence to suggest that EMF associated with high voltage cables have either positive or negative effects on cetaceans, fish or elasmobranches.

The primary function of the proposed cable is telecommunications whereas its secondary function is the transmission of low power electricity to the test site. At 3.5kW and 400V the power and voltage of the proposed cable are a fraction of those found in high power undersea cables. For instance the East West interconnector which was recently laid in the Irish Sea connecting the Irish and UK electrical grids can transmit up to 500,000kW at up to 200,000V. The low power levels in the proposed cable mean that the magnetic field and induced electric field from the proposed cable are well below the ICNIRP guidelines.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

11. DECOMMISSIONING

Industry experience suggests that a lifespan of fifty years or more is possible for submarine transmission cables. This is in line with the Commission for Energy Regulation’s direction on material assets, which suggests that assets such as submarine cables have an operational lifetime of 50 years. The proposed development has a design life 20 years although refurbishment could extend if necessary.

Decommissioning of the sub-sea portion of the cable will be subject to agreement between the MI, the Foreshore Licence Unit in the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, other appropriate authorities, and will be in line with relevant legislation and industry best-practice at the time.

Decommissioning of the onshore (landfall) substation will be subject to agreement between the MI, Colaiste Chroi Mhuire secondary school and the Galway County Council. Any impacts will be assessed based on best-practice techniques in place at time of decommissioning.

Decommissioning of wave energy converters are the responsibility of the WEC developer and are already subject to an agreement between the MI, the Foreshore Licence Unit in the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and other appropriate authorities (see Section 4.5).

A full assessment of the impact of decommissioning the cable will be undertaken towards the end of the project life. This may include the options of recovering the submarine electricity cable or leaving it in-situ.

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12. MITIGATION MEASURES

The following mitigation measures will be implemented as part of the cable laying process for the cable project at the ¼-scale test site in Galway Bay: Care should be taken by cable laying operators to conserve the integrity of the marine environment and avoid all unnecessary disturbances to the ecosystem and to other users of the sea in the area. To limit impacts of operations on commercial fishing, consultations will be held with fishermen in advance of cable-laying in order to agree a minimally disruptive approach. It is recommended that the installation of the terrestrial cable route in the vicinity of the RMP sites be archaeologically supervised. Because the Spiddal area and Galway Bay in general is known for the occurrence of cetacean species, the following specific risk minimisation activities will be included in the cable lay process: o A qualified and experienced marine mammal observer (MMO) should be appointed to monitor for marine mammals and to log all relevant events using standardised data forms. o The MMO must advise the Works Superintendent within a previously agreed timeframe prior to scheduled activity if environmental conditions (e.g., sea state, light, visibility) are insufficient for effective visual monitoring. In such conditions, the activity of concern should be postponed until acceptable conditions prevail. o In the event of suitable environmental conditions, a clear on-site communication signal must be agreed between the MMO and the Works Superintendent as to whether the relevant activity may or may not proceed, or resume following a break (see below). It should only proceed on positive confirmation with the MMO, which must be recorded by the MMO. o In waters up to 200m deep, the MMO should conduct pre-start-up constant effort monitoring at least 30 minutes before the sound-producing activity is due to commence, continuing monitoring during and for 30 minutes following the activity. Sound-producing activity should not commence until at least 30 minutes have elapsed with no marine mammal detections by the on-site MMO. o Unless information specific to the location is otherwise available to inform the mitigation process (e.g., sound attenuation data), operations should not

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commence if marine mammals are detected within a 500m radial distance of the intended sound source, i.e., within the Monitored Zone. o Once begun, the activity may continue if weather conditions deteriorate or if marine mammals enter the 500m-radius Monitored Zone following start-up. o If there is a break in dredging or drilling activity for a period greater than 30 minutes then all preactivity monitoring measures should recommence as for start-up. o Full reporting on MMO operations and mitigation undertaken should be provided to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to facilitate reporting under Article 17 of the EC Habitats Directive and future improvements to guidance. o Target work to take place when porpoise presence is at its lowest, e.g. during the spring or early summer. o Only carry out observations during daylight hours. o Carryout SAM at the site during and after installation works to assess if avoidance behaviour is recorded and if so for how long it persists. Since underwater noise will be emitted during the operation of the vessel and the jetting tool, the monitoring of basic background levels before, during and after cable laying operations should be made to ensure that levels comply with the relevant regulations and guidelines e.g. Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Cable laying operations in water depths shallower than 5m should take place at times closer to high tides to avoid generating sediment plumes due to activities of propellers or thrusters. The owners of the cable laying vessel should be required to have a detailed pollution control and oil spill response plan in place that are approved by the Inland Fisheries Ireland, and other relevant authorities i.e. NPWS and EPA and having regard for the relevant pollution prevention guidelines. Adequate notification of the cable laying operations including duration and dates of activities will be given to the local authorities and other stakeholders in the Spiddal community including fishermen, boat owners and other user groups. Notice to mariners will also be published which indicate the proposed cable route on navigation charts. A survey of the cable route and sub-sea connectors will be undertaken annually as part of a routine maintenance programme to ensure that no part of the cables are exposed or damaged by extreme weather or other maritime activities

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

A no-anchor zone along the cable route will be established on marine navigation charts and a large no-anchor sign indicating the presence of a submarine cable will be mounted at the outer end of Spiddal pier. Fishermen will be advised not to trawl over the cable but in the event that they do they should try to tow along the cable route rather than across it. Fishermen will be advised that there should be no scallop dredging in the vicinity of the cable due to the danger that the repeated dragging of heavy gear across the cable could uncover and damage it and pose a risk to the safety of the fishing vessel itself. In line with international best practice, in the event of a snagging, fishermen will be advised to cut their gear and to notify the MI immediately. A plaque indicating emergency contact details in the event of a mishap with the cable will be mounted on Spiddal pier. This could be part of a permanent display describing the project. Fishermen and other boat owners in the vicinity will also be provided with emergency contact details. Decommissioning will be undertaken in agreement with the relevant authorities and in line with best practice at the close of the project. As far as possible, a balance will be struck in terms of the timing of the cable laying operations. Considerations will be given to the historical occurrence of cetacean species in the vicinity of the cable and test site. Consideration will also be given to periods of fish migration and cable laying operations should avoid and limit activities that may potentially impact or interfere with the passage of fish from the coastal waters to the Boluisce River. Timings will also take into account the main tourist season to avoid interactions with marine leisure activities including boating, angling and water sports including swimming. Consultation with stakeholders in Spiddal and the fishing community will also take place to identify the most suitable time and the cable installation can be scheduled according to these needs and to the availability of a suitable vessel.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

13. CONCLUSIONS

1. The implementation of the Galway Bay Cable Project will deliver on a number of important national and European policy initiatives that will bring together the key drivers: Ocean Energy and Marine ICT in the implementation of a Smart Economy and Smart Ocean strategies. It is expected that the developments will lead to new high-tech industrial opportunities, growth and employment which are key objectives of the Irish Government. 2. The Galway Bay Cable Project is a joint undertaking by the Marine Institute (MI), Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), SmartBay Ireland Ltd, NUIG, HMRC in UCC and DCU comprising two linked objectives : a. Improved infrastructure to assess the performance of wave energy prototypes at the ¼-scale wave energy Test Site. b. Provision of test and demonstration infrastructure for marine Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) through SmartBay. 3. The objective of the Galway Bay Cable Project and the subject of this Environmental Report is the installation and operation of a fibre optic submarine cable providing a 3.5kW power supply and data transmission facility running from a suitable shore-based location in Spiddal to an observatory located on the seabed at the Wave Energy Test Site. The test site is located 1.3 kilometres from the shore and 2.4 kilometres south east of Spiddal pier. The cable will be 25mm in diameter and will be protected from wave action and other damage at the shore end by an armoured steel sheath. For most of its length; however, it will not need armour as it will be buried 700mm under the sea bed. It is estimated that 4.1km of cable will be required in all. 4. Informal consultations regarding plans for the project have already been held with representatives of various stakeholder groups in and around the Spiddal area. No significant concerns were expressed by stakeholders at any of these meetings but there were many valuable exchanges, some of these giving rise to modifications to the proposed route of the onshore portion of the cable. Formal consultation is a component of the foreshore licence application process and will occur according to requirements stipulated by the DECLG. 5. A number of surveys and assessments were carried out by a range of consultants to examine all possible alternatives and select the most feasible options for the project. Seven landfall options were investigated following the initial feasibility study and Spiddal New Pier was identified as being the most suitable according to a number of selection criteria.

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6. The initial feasibility study identified three possible cable route options to connect the ocean energy test site to the various landfall sites. A geophysical survey was conducted to examine all three options using a side scan sonar towfish and a geoacoustic chirp. Historical LIDAR data was also examined and the shallower sections of these routes were investigated using a combination of drop-down camera and diver surveys. These surveys identified an unobstructed sedimentary route for the cable to Spiddal New Pier from the test site. Subsequent geophysical surveys were carried out to further refine this route. 7. The shore station will be located in a small dedicated room within the secondary school, Colaiste Chroi Mhuire an Spideal, and will consist of a work space hosting some data processing and storage equipment. Education and outreach activities will be conducted in conjunction with the school authorities. 8. The cable will be laid by a specially adapted cable laying vessel and will be buried post- lay by water jetting the sea bed so that the cable can sink through it, down to a depth of 700mm below the top of the sediment. The sediment will re-solidify shortly after the jetting and the cable will be completely covered and protected. There will be some sediment remobilisation during the water jetting operation; however levels will be low and temporary and since any disturbance will be local and short-lived, turbidity is not expected to have any impact on local fauna. 9. Measurements recorded in 2007 indicated that current speeds throughout the water column at the test site averaged 10cm/s with a maximum estimated at 33cm/s. This data is based on an ADCP deployed at the site in 2007. The mean spring and neap tidal ranges at the Galway port tide gauge are 4.9 and 1.79 metres, respectively. Results from a wave monitoring buoy permanently moored at the site indicate an average wave height of 0.75m with waves often in excess of 2.5m. The installation and operation of the proposed cable will have no impact on oceanographic properties in the area. 10. In the environs of Galway Bay there are four marine and terrestrial cSACs providing habitat for various Annex I bird species and Annex II species such as sea trout, Atlantic salmon and harbour seals. The ocean energy test site and the proposed cable route are located well outside these habitiats and therefore will have no impact on any of the protected cSAC habitats in Galway Bay. 11. Sampling and detailed assessment of the faunal community within the sediments along the cable route indicated that the species present are typical of the area. No rare, sensitive or unusual species were recorded during this survey. It is expected that the temporary disturbance of the seabed and remobilisation of sediments and plumes

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

associated with the cable laying operation will have no long-term effect on the benthic ecology or habitat along the cable route. 12. Reef habitats are included in the Annex I list under the EU Habitats Directive. In the case of the Galway Bay Cable Project, the proposed cable route will avoid the rocky reef and boulder areas on the approach to shore. Re-suspended sediment will not negatively impact on the reef communities as levels will be low, short-term and temporary. 13. Local disturbance associated with the trenching process, sediment re-suspension and activities by divers are likely to affect fish species swimming or living in the immediate vicinity and close-by to the cable. This impact will only be temporary with fish returning to the area once the operations cease. The migration path of Atlantic Salmon, Sea Trout and Lamprey will not be impacted by the cable since it will be buried beneath the sediment and covered with cast iron protectors within 100m of the landfall site for additional protection. In addition, the cable will not traverse the mouth of the Boluisce River but will have a landing point and junction box at the end of Spiddal Pier. Little or no electromagnetic frequency (EMF) will be emitted since the cable is essentially for data and telecommunication with a very low capacity for electrical power i.e. 400 V DC 3.5kW. 14. The cable project will not impact local populations of dolphins, harbour porpoises and seals except briefly during the two days of cable-laying when there will be noise and disturbance associated with vessel activity and water jetting of the sediments. Mitigation measures in the form of the NPWS Draft Guidance to Manage the Risk to Marine Mammals from Man-made Sound Sources will be undertaken and an MMO will be present for the entire duration of the installation. 15. Similarly, disturbance of bird life in the area will be confined to the period of cable- laying which will be short term and temporary. 16. The desktop archaeological assessment has indicated that there are no known shipwrecks or Recorded Monument and Places on the proposed route. Based on the results of the assessment, it would appear that there are the buried remains of a palaeochannel close to or part of the route. The cable installation technique of ploughing is predicted to operate 0.5m below the seafloor. This is a considerable distance above the palaeochannel horizons. Consequently, it is not predicted that the development will have any impact on cultural heritage. Any material of significance which may be uncovered will be notified to the Underwater Archaeology Unit immediately. 17. The cable installation will have no impact on aquaculture activities given the distance to the nearest site.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

18. The impact of the cable-laying operation on commercial species of fish and shellfish will be short-term and temporary with fish returning to the area once the operations cease. The cable laying operations may disrupt local fishing activities taking place close to the cable route. However, this will be short-term (2 days approximately) and temporary and consultation will take place with local fishermen prior to operations commencing. Fishermen will be advised, if trawling in the vicinity of the cable, to tow parallel to the cable rather than across it. There should be no dredging of scallops along the cable route due to the danger of exposing the cable to damage and due to vessel safety concerns. 19. Skippers of commercial and leisure vessels operating in the area will be advised, via navigation charts and local signage not to anchor in the vicinity of the cable.

Environmental Report Galway Bay Cable Project

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15. GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ADCP Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler AMETS Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site AMS Advanced Mapping Services ADCP Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler CEE Cable End Equipment Cm/s-1 Centimetre per second C-POD Click detector for POrpoise CHIRP Acoustic sub-bottom profiler for geophysical site survey COWRIE Collaborative Offshore Wind Research Into the Environment cSAC candidate Special Area of Conservation DAFM Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine DOECLG Department of Energy, Community and Local Government EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone EIS Environmental Impact Statement ESB Electricity Supply Board ESBI Electricity Supply Board International Ltd EPA Environmental Protection Agency EU European Union EMF Electromagnetic Field FFWMC Fully Functional Wet Mate Connector (FFWMC) FPS Floating Power System GBIFA Galway Bay Inshore Fishermen’s Association HEA Higher Education Authority HDTV High Definition Television HMRC Hydraulic and Maritime Research Centre ICT Information and Communication Technologies ICNIRP International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. IDA Industrial Development Agency IWDG Irish Whale and Dolphin Group INFOMAR Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resources Kw Kilowatt Khz Kilo hertz LIDAR Light Detection and Ranging

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(optical remote sensing laser altimetry) LV Low Voltage (220V network) MI Marine Institute MEC Maximum Export Capacity MERC MERC Environmental and Conservation Consultants MMO Marine Mammal Observer MW Megawatt (one million watts) NRP National Recovery Plan NEWS Non-Estuarine Coastal Bird Surveys NHA Natural Heritage Area NPWS National Parks and Wildlife Service OE Ocean Energy OSIS Ocean Science and Information Services –Marine Institute OPW Office of Public Works RMP Record of Monument and Places ROV Remotely Operated Vehicle SAC Special Area of Conservation. SEAI Sustainable Energy Agency of Ireland SIIM Science Instrument Interface Module SME Small and Medium Enterprises SPA Special Protection Area T-Pod Tonal Click Detector for Porpoise. V Volt WEC Wave Energy Converter WHO World Health Organisation XLPE Cross Linked Polythene