Documentation for the Espoo consultation prior to the establishment of Kattegatt Syd wind farm Vattenfall Vindkraft AB Vattenfall Vindnät Sverige AB Kattegatt Syd Documentation for the Espoo consultation prior to the establishment of offshore wind power in the Kattegat Sea Date: 22 February 2021 1 (66) Documentation for the Espoo consultation prior to establishment of wind farm Kattegatt Syd Alma Strandmark Environmental Consultant, WSP Greta Lindberg Environmental Consultant, WSP Agnes Larsson Environmental Consultant, WSP Authors, WSP: Carolina Enhus Environmental Consultant, WSP Malin Jonsson Environmental Consultant, WSP Erik Dalman Environmental Consultant, WSP Jonas Sahlin Project Lead, WSP Review, WSP: Patrik Lindström Environmental Consultant, WSP Approved by, WSP Jonas Sahlin Project Lead, WSP Anna Seffel Consents Manager Daniel Bates Review, Vattenfall: Consents Manager Mikael Berglund (Lawyer, Legal Representative Fröberg & Lundholm) Approved by, Johan Weimenhög Project Manager, Vattenfall Vattenfall: Documentation for Espoo consultation prior to application for Document title: establishment of wind farm in the Kattegat Sea Version: Final version 2 (66) Documentation for the Espoo consultation prior to establishment of wind farm Kattegatt Syd Summary Introduction Vattenfall plans to apply for a permit to establish an offshore wind farm in the Kattegat sea. The area for the wind farm, called Kattegatt Syd, is located about 25 km outside Falkenberg between the two Natura 2000 areas; Stora Middelgrund and Röde bank, and Lilla Middelgrund. Kattegatt Syd will have the potential to generate 4.7 TWh per year, which is currently equivalent to around 2.5-3% of Sweden's total electricity generation, and the project is therefore an important part of Sweden's and Europe's transition to renewable electricity generation and ambition for a climate-neutral society. Consultation The project has the potential to have a significant environmental impact and may affect the environment outside Sweden's borders. This document constitutes the basis for a consultation on transboundary environmental impact, known as an Espoo Consultation. In accordance with Chapter 6, Section 33 of the Environmental Code and the Espoo Convention, the countries concerned must be informed of activities, their possible transboundary consequences and the type of decision that may be taken, as well as being given reasonable time to comment on whether they wish to participate in the Environmental Impact Assessment. In Sweden, notification is handled by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The contacted countries that consider themselves to be affected will be given the opportunity to submit comments prior to the preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment. In parallel, a consultation will take place with authorities, stakeholder organisations and those specifically affected in Sweden prior to the major permit applications required for the establishment of the wind farm in Sweden's economic zone, the laying of export cables and inter-array cables, and the laying of underground cables from the landfall point and onto the Swedish national transmission grid. Description of the project A significant transboundary environmental impact may result from the installation and operation of the wind farm, consisting of the wind turbines, their foundations and inter-array cables that connect the wind turbines with up to two offshore substations. The project will also include the installation and operation of export cables to connect the wind farm to the Swedish transmission grid. However, these measures are not expected to have any significant transboundary impact and are therefore not described in more detail in this consultation document. However, the export cable corridors under consideration are marked on maps in the consultation documentation in order to illustrate potential locations in relation to territorial waters and Swedish economic zone borders. According to the preliminary schedule, installation of the wind farm is planned to start in 2028 and to be operational in 2030. As the technology for offshore wind power is rapidly developing, it is not possible to say with certainty exactly which technical solutions will be available once wind farm installation commences. As a result, various examples of potential wind farm designs are presented for the different parts of the project. The maximum height of the wind turbines is estimated to be 350 m and the number of turbines is estimated to be a maximum of 80. The number, size and location of the wind turbines in the area are 3 (66) Documentation for the Espoo consultation prior to establishment of wind farm Kattegatt Syd presented in two different example layouts (one with a greater number of smaller wind turbines and one with fewer but larger wind turbines). The wind turbines will be visible both from the Swedish coast and from the Danish island of Anholt. Marine environment Close to the wind farm there are areas for porpoises, seabirds and spawning areas for cod. In the area of the planned wind farm, the seabed is dominated by soft-sediment communities. The area is close to important shipping lanes and is used by fishermen from Sweden and Denmark. The installation and operation of the wind farm will affect the marine environment in one way or another. During the installation phase, underwater noise (mainly due to pile-driving foundations) and turbidity (e.g. laying of cables) will occur. Porpoises and other marine mammals are sensitive to underwater noise and risk being affected during the installation phase. Fish are at risk of being affected by both underwater noise and operations that cause turbidity, while the impact on seabirds is believed to be primarily linked to a change in their habitat during the operational phase. The seabed community can be impacted both through permanently changed habitats and as a result of time-limited turbidity during the installation phase. However, previous studies show that most marine organisms are not disrupted by a wind farm’s presence, once in place. Commercial fishing will be possible in the area even after the wind farm is in place, but it is likely that certain types of fishing such as bottom trawling will need to adapt to the new conditions in the wind farm area. The wind farm’s potential transboundary impact is primarily related to Natura 2000 sites, mobile species such as marine mammals and birds, benthic species at the wind farm's border with Denmark, commercial fishing, shipping and the visual landscape. The wind farm area will be thoroughly examined through extensive field studies of birds, porpoises and the seabed community. An analysis of the impact on commercial fishing within the wind farm will also be carried out. Investigations of various impact types, such as turbidity, noise, hydrodynamic conditions, and risk analyses for shipping, etc., will be carried out to enable mitigation of the negative effects to the natural environment, infrastructure and people's well-being. 4 (66) Documentation for the Espoo consultation prior to the establishment of Kattegatt Syd wind farm Table of Contents 1. Introduction and background................................................................................. 8 1.1. Consultation ................................................................................................... 8 1.2. Administrative details ..................................................................................... 8 1.3. Introduction .................................................................................................... 9 1.4. Kattegatt Syd ............................................................................................... 10 2. Permits and legal areas ........................................................................................ 14 2.1. Wind farm permit (Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone Act (1992:1140))..... 15 2.2. Natura 2000 permit (Chapter 7, Section 28 a of the Environmental Code) .. 15 2.3. Permit in accordance with the the Continental Shelf Act for laying cables in the Swedish economic zone and in the territorial sea (Section 3a of the Continental Shelf Act (1966:314)) ................................................................ 15 3. Planned operations ............................................................................................... 17 3.1. Wind farm ..................................................................................................... 17 3.1.1. Turbines ....................................................................................... 17 3.1.2. Foundations .................................................................................. 19 3.1.3. Internal cable network .................................................................. 21 3.1.4. Substation(s) ................................................................................ 22 3.1.5. Dredged material management .................................................... 22 3.2. Decommissioning the farm ........................................................................... 23 3.3. Preliminary schedule .................................................................................... 23 4. List of alternative locations .................................................................................. 25 4.1. Wind farm ..................................................................................................... 25 5. Impacts ..................................................................................................................