Wind, Wave and Tidal Environmental Assessment

RET has published a Regional Environmental Assessment (REA) of Marine Energy in the Bailiwick of Guernsey that looks at the potential for wind, wave and tidal developments. The associated documents are available on the Downloads page.

The REA is a desk study to identify existing environmental information relating to the territorial waters of Guernsey, Herm and Sark, and to carry out an outline assessment of the likely impacts of renewable energy developments. Although not specifically required under Guernsey's laws, the structure of the report closely matches that of a Strategic Environmental Assessment as required by the European Environmental Impacts Assessment Directive.

The REA is a strategic technical assessment of the potential environmental impacts (positive and negative) that could result from the development of marine renewable energy in Guernsey and Sark territorial waters. The main REA document runs to about five hundred pages and therefore a shorter Non Technical Summary (NTS) has also been produced. This explains the purpose and results of the REA in an easy to read format for the general reader.

This document was prepared in collaboration with a number of environmental specialists who live and work on Guernsey or elsewhere in the Channel Islands including local specialists in navigation, cabling, archaeology, fisheries, ecology, cetaceans and ornithology. By using local specialists and by consulting widely and regularly with the public, the enormous wealth of local knowledge and experience has been incorporated into the REA. UK specialists were also used where necessary to assist in the REA and provide their technical expertise.

What we mean by 'The Environment'

To most people the word 'Environment' means plant and animal life, together with their habitats, that may be affected by a proposed project. However, in keeping with globally accepted best practice, our assessment also covered impacts on the sea and sea-bed, human beings and their existing health, transportation, resources, industry, culture and landscapes. The following list shows the aspects covered.

Physical Marine Environment
Geology
Marine Processes
Water Quality

Marine Biological Environment
Benthic Ecology
Pelagic Ecology
Birds
Marine Mammals

Human Environment
Commercial Fisheries and Mariculture
Recreational Fishing
Marine and Coastal Historic Environment
Cables Pipelines and Onshore Grid Connections
Shipping and Navigation
Tourism and Recreation

Other Topics
Noise
Air Quality
Landscape and Seascape Character

RET has also undertaken work in the preparation of the Regional Environmental Assessment in the form of the Regional Environmental Assessment Scoping Report. This is a desk study to identify existing environmental information relating to the territorial waters of Guernsey, Herm and Sark, and to carry out an outline assessment of the likely impacts of renewable energy developments. The Regional Environmental Assessment Scoping Report (REA Scoping) outlines in detail the specification of the subjects covered and work undertaken in the REA. This document was also prepared in collaboration with a number of environmental specialists from the Guernsey Renewable Energy Forum (GREF) who live and work on Guernsey or elsewhere in the Channel Islands.

Although the REA is no longer undergoing public consultation, if you would like to comment on the document or provide further information please feel free to contact us, as we would still like to hear from you.