NIL Burbo Bank – Airspace Change Proposal Date: 7 July 2014 Author: Revision: Issue 1 Osprey Ref: 7750 025 This document is of UK origin and has been prepared by Osprey Consulting Services Limited (Osprey) and, subject to any existing rights of third parties, Osprey is the owner of the copyright therein. The document is furnished in confidence under existing laws, regulations and agreements covering the release of data. This document contains proprietary information of Osprey and the contents or any part thereof shall not be copied or disclosed to any third party without Osprey’s prior written consent. © Osprey Consulting Services Limited 2014 The Forge, London Road, Bentley, Hampshire. GU10 5HY 01420 520200 / [email protected] Registered in England and Wales under No: 6034579 NIL NIL Document Details Reference Description Document Title Burbo Bank TMZ – Airspace Change Proposal Document Ref 7750 025 Issue Issue 1 Date 7 July 2014 Client Name DONG Energy Classification Nil Approval Level Authority Name Author Osprey CSL Internal Approval Osprey CSL Burbo Bank TMZ – Airspace Change Proposal | Document Details 2 7750 025 | Issue 1 NIL NIL Executive Summary DONG Energy (DONG) plans to develop an extension to the existing operational Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm in Liverpool Bay. The Burbo Bank Extension Offshore Wind Farm will cover an area of 40 km2 and have an estimated generating capacity of up to 259 Mega Watts (MW). The project development site will be located west of the operational wind farm, around 7 kilometres (km) (3.8 Nautical Miles (NM)) north of the North Wirral coast near the village of Meols, 8.5 km (4.6 NM) from Crosby beach, and 12.2 km (6.6 NM) from the Point of Ayr on the Welsh coast. The Issue The presence of the Burbo Bank Extension Wind Farm would affect BAE Systems Warton (Warton) Aerodrome flying and Air Traffic Service (ATS) operations, with the most significant impact being the detection of the wind turbines by the Warton Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR). Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs), with maximum blade tip heights of up to 223 metres (m), located within PSR coverage can present themselves as reflecting moving targets to the radar, which look very similar to aircraft radar returns. Air traffic controllers are required to take action in response to these false radar returns (also known as “clutter”) displayed on the radar screen, as it cannot be assumed they are not aircraft, which has the potential to erode levels of effectiveness and efficiency for the control of aircraft flying in the area of the Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farms. DONG has worked with Warton to identify a solution to mitigate the effects of the WTGs on the PSR, which will enable the Burbo Bank Extension Offshore Wind Farm WTGs to be built without affecting Warton flying operations. Proposed solution In developing the plans to resolve these issues, DONG and Warton have considered a variety of options to determine how best to meet the needs of Warton as well as other aviation and non- aviation stakeholders. Whilst the existing operational WTGs do not affect the Warton PSR, from an airspace user perspective, DONG and Warton consider that if mitigation involves a change to local airspace, then it is simpler to apply the change to both the operational and proposed extension Wind Farms. It would be difficult for a pilot to make a visual distinction between the two sets of WTGs. Warton’s preferred solution is to establish a Transponder Mandatory Zone (TMZ) around the Burbo Bank operational and extension Offshore Wind Farms up to the base of Controlled Burbo Bank TMZ – Airspace Change Proposal | Executive Summary 3 7750 025 | Issue 1 NIL NIL Airspace (CAS), to be active during the Warton Lower Airspace Radar Service (LARS) provision times1. The proposed TMZ (lined in green) is illustrated in Figure 1 below. The proposed establishment of the TMZ is one element of a 3-part Mitigation Package aimed at negating the impact of the clutter from the Burbo Bank Extension Offshore Wind Farm WTGs upon the Warton PSR. The three parts are: • Element 1: Establishment of a TMZ; • Element 2: Authorisation to control Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR)2-only and; • Element 3: Suppression of PSR returns within the boundary of the Wind Farms. Figure 1 Burbo Bank Proposed TMZ. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. 2013 License number 0100031673. CAA Safety and Airspace Regulation Group (SARG) Stirling is the organisation that authorises Warton Air Traffic Control (ATC) to provide services using SSR-only. Warton have made the request for ATS using SSR-only within the proposed TMZ. This document outlines the proposal from DONG to maintain the effectiveness and efficiency of the airspace surrounding the Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farms by mitigating the effects of the WTGs on Warton flying and PSR-based ATS operations. 1 Monday to Thursday 0730 – 1900, Friday, 0730 – 1700 (local time). 2 SSR is a radar system used in Air Traffic Control (ATC) that not only provides controllers with azimuth position information, but also requests additional information from the aircraft itself such as its altitude. Burbo Bank TMZ – Airspace Change Proposal | Executive Summary 4 7750 025 | Issue 1 NIL NIL Consultation NATMAC members plus selected additional stakeholders were directly consulted. In addition, general public consultation was undertaken by publication of the consultation material on the DONG website. A list of identified stakeholders is at Annex A4 (individual members of the public who submitted unsolicited comments are not listed). The purpose of the consultation was to seek primarily industry comment on DONG’s proposal and to refine this accordingly prior to implementation. Burbo Bank TMZ – Airspace Change Proposal | Executive Summary 5 7750 025 | Issue 1 NIL NIL Contents 1 Glossary ......................................................................................................................................... 9 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 General ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Purpose and Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 14 2.3 Consultation .............................................................................................................................................. 14 2.4 Document structure ............................................................................................................................... 15 3 The Need for an Airspace Change Proposal .................................................................... 16 3.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 3.2 General flying operations at Warton Aerodrome ...................................................................... 16 3.3 Justification for an Airspace Change ............................................................................................... 17 4 Proposed Design ....................................................................................................................... 22 4.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 22 4.2 Option 0 – Do nothing ........................................................................................................................... 22 4.3 Option 1 – A PSR solution .................................................................................................................... 22 4.4 Option 2 – Radio Mandatory Zone (RMZ) ..................................................................................... 23 4.5 Option 3 – Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR)-only .............................................................. 23 4.6 Option 4 – Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) blanking or Non-Auto Initiation Zone (NAIZ) only ................................................................................................................................................ 23 4.7 Option 5 – A Transponder Mandatory Zone (TMZ) with associated PSR Suppression Techniques ................................................................................................................................................. 24 4.8 The Proposed TMZ.................................................................................................................................. 24 5 Impact of the Proposed TMZ ................................................................................................ 28 5.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 28 5.2 Impact of the TMZ on military operations .................................................................................... 28 5.3 Impact of the TMZ on light GA operations .................................................................................... 28 5.4 Impact of the TMZ on offshore helicopter operations ............................................................. 29 6 Environmental and Economic Considerations of a TMZ ...........................................