1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Purpose of this document
1.1.1.1 Mona Offshore Wind Ltd (the Applicant), a joint venture of bp Alternative Energy investments Ltd (hereafter referred to as bp) and Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (hereafter referred to as EnBW) is developing the Mona Offshore Wind Project. The Mona Offshore Wind Project is a proposed offshore wind farm located in the east Irish Sea (Figure 1.1).
1.1.1.2 This document is a Non-Technical Summary (NTS) of the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR). The PEIR constitutes the preliminary environmental information for the Mona Offshore Wind Project and sets out the findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to date to support the pre-application consultation activities required under the Planning Act 2008 (the 2008 Act). The EIA will be finalised following completion of pre-application consultation and the Environmental Statement. The final EIA together with an updated NTS, will accompany the application for consent.
1.1.1.3 This NTS is intended to act as a stand-alone document that provides an overview of the Mona Offshore Wind Project and the likely significant effects of the Mona Offshore Wind Project in non-technical language. The full PEIR is located at:
1.1.2 Introduction to the Mona Offshore Wind Project
1.1.2.1 The Applicant entered into an Agreement for Lease (AfL) for the seabed from The Crown Estate for the Mona Offshore Wind Project in early 2023. The Mona Array Area (i.e. the area within which the offshore wind turbines will be located) is 449.97km2 in area and is located approximately 28.2km (15.2nm) from the Anglesey coastline, 39.9km (21.5nm) from the northwest coast of England and 42.6km (23nm) from the Isle of Man. The Mona Array Area is predominantly located in Welsh offshore waters (beyond 12nm from the Welsh coast), with small parts of the boundary located within English offshore waters (beyond 12nm from the English coast) (Figure 1.1).
1.1.2.2 The offshore export cables (cables that bring the electricity from the Mona Array Area to shore) and related works located within and between the Mona Array Area and the landfall will be routed through the Mona Offshore Cable Corridor, which overlaps with both Welsh offshore and Welsh inshore waters. The onshore export cables and onshore substation will be located within the Mona Proposed Onshore Development Area, which is within Conwy and Denbighshire, in north Wales.
1.1.2.3 The Mona Scoping Report provided details of the proposed approach to EIA and was submitted to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in May 2022. The Applicant received responses from stakeholders in the form of the Scoping Opinion in June 2022 (Planning Inspectorate, 2022) and in Quarter 3 of 2022 the Applicant met with stakeholders informally to discuss their feedback in more detail and to refine the proposal ahead of formal consultation on the PEIR. 1.1.2.4 The site selection process undertaken for the Mona Offshore Wind Project is presented in section 1.5 and a more detailed description of the Mona Offshore Wind Project is presented in section 1.4.
1.1.3 Structure of the Preliminary Environmental Information Report
1.1.3.1 The PEIR contains separate chapters for the offshore and onshore aspects of the EIA. For the purposes of the EIA (including the PEIR) 'offshore' generally refers to the receptors on the seaward side of MHWS and 'onshore' refers to the receptors on the landward side of Mean High Water Springs (MHWS) however there are exceptions where works in the intertidal area are likely to have impacts on land above MHWS. There is an overlap of jurisdiction in the intertidal area between MHWS and Mean Low Water Springs (MLWS) of the marine and terrestrial consenting and regulatory regimes.
1.1.3.2 The PEIR is divided into eight volumes:
- Volume 1: Introduction
- Volume 2: Offshore chapters
- Volume 3: Onshore chapters
- Volume 4: Onshore and offshore combined chapters
- Volume 5: Introduction annexes
- Volume 6: Offshore annexes
- Volume 7: Onshore annexes
- Volume 8: Offshore and onshore combined annexes.
1.1.4 About the Applicant
1.1.4.1 The Applicant is a joint venture between two leading energy companies (bp and EnBW). These two companies are working together as partners to deliver offshore wind projects in the UK. bp has set out an ambition to be a net zero company by 2050, or sooner. This strategy will see bp transform from an international oil company producing oil and gas, to an integrated energy company providing broader energy solutions to customers. EnBW is one of the largest energy supply companies in Germany and supplies electricity, gas, water and energy solutions and energy industry services to around 5.5 million customers with a workforce of more than 23,000 employees. EnBW aims to strengthen its position as a sustainable and innovative infrastructure partner for customers, citizens and local authorities.
1.1.5 How you can get involved
1.1.5.1 This PEIR is intended to allow those taking part in the consultation to understand the nature, scale, location and likely significant environmental effects of the Mona Offshore Wind Project, such that they can make an informed contribution to the process of pre-application consultation and to the EIA process. It is important to note that the PEIR contains preliminary information which will be updated with the results of additional surveys and in response to consultation feedback in the final Environmental Statement. The Applicant will be actively seeking feedback on the PEIR from statutory consultees, local communities and interested parties. Information on how you can get involved is outlined in section 1.11 below.
Figure 1.1: Location of the Mona Offshore Wind Project