Leading UK marine consultancy ABPmer has been commissioned by Guernsey Electricity Limited to undertake the environmental scoping studies in support of future submarine power cable projects. The company is seeking to install two submarine power cables between Guernsey and Jersey and Guernsey and France.
In order to achieve consent for the proposed cables, it is necessary to satisfy the relevant regulatory bodies that the installation, operation and decommissioning of the cables will not result in unacceptable adverse impacts on the marine or terrestrial environment. To inform this process, the environmental scoping exercise will be carried out to provide a preliminary characterisation of the baseline environment and to identify the issues to be addressed within the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
Stephen Hull, Technical Director at ABPmer said: “We are excited to be awarded this contract. We are recognised specialists in marine EIAs and have worked on previous submarine cable and cable landfall projects.
“The scoping for the two cable routes will be carried out in parallel to form part of the wider feasibility studies being prepared for the development. The purpose of the scoping document is to identify the breadth of the EIA by providing a summary of issues for consideration including significant effects associated with cable installation.”
Press Release, July 24, 2013