A 12-week public consultation on two draft Guidance documents to help support the development of offshore renewable energy in Ireland has opened yesterday, 22 September.
The draft documents aim to provide Guidance on the preparation of Environment Impact Statements (EIS) and Natura Impact Statements (NIS) for offshore renewable energy projects and Guidance on Marine Baseline Assessments and Monitoring Activities to evaluate potential environmental impacts of renewable energy projects in the marine area.
The draft guidance document on the preparation of EIS and NIS has been developed specifically for the offshore renewable energy industry and is primarily based on existing statutory obligations. The Marine Baseline Assessments and Monitoring Activities draft guidance document is aimed at specialists delivering the required surveys and analysis for offshore renewable energy projects, such as ecologists, archaeologists, oceanographers and modellers.
The consultation should help ensure that the Guidance documents are as comprehensive and relevant as possible to developers and practitioners in the offshore renewable energy field.
Ireland’s Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten T.D. , who announced the launch of public consultation, said: “The preparation of these draft Guidance documents is one of a number of projects being progressed under the Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan, and it is hoped that they will be of interest not just to the offshore renewable energy industry but will be of wider interest also. I look forward to feedback from all relevant stakeholders.”
The public consultation will close on 16 December 2016. Further details on the consultation and the Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan can be found on Irish Department’s of Communications, Climate Action and Environment website .