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Consultation on a proposal to require Offshore Transmission Owners to obtain a licence under Part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 for the deposit of cables

The Marine and Fisheries Agency currently license the deposit of substances and articles in the sea or under the seabed in waters adjacent to England and Wales. These licences are issued by the Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers under Part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. This includes the licensing of wind farms and associated submarine transmission cables, which are the focus of this consultation exercise.

Under section 8 of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985, the licensing authority, in determining whether to issue a licence, shall have regard to the need to protect the marine environment, the living resources which it supports and human health, and the need to prevent interference with legitimate uses of the sea. The licensing authority shall include provisions that it considers to be necessary or expedient for these purposes.

Under the Deposits in the Sea (Exemptions) Order 1985, the ‘Deposit of cables and associated equipment (otherwise than for the purpose of disposal) in the course of cable laying or cable maintenance’ is exempt from the requirement to obtain a licence under Part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. However, where a submarine cable connects to a project that includes a licensable activity under Part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (such as the construction of a wind farm), the Marine and Fisheries Agency assesses the impact of that cable within the project and applies appropriate conditions for up to three years through the licence that is issued for the licensable activity. This has ensured that cables do not have an unreasonable impact on the environment, either through their deposit or during the early operational stage of the project.

This consultation document proposes options to fill a regulatory gap which, in practice, applies to new submarine transmission cables that are to be connected to offshore wind turbines between around June 2010 and, subject to the passage of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill through Parliament, the commencement of regulations under Part 4 of that Bill.

This regulatory gap is likely to appear in June 2010, when the new regulatory regime for offshore electricity transmission (introduced by the Department of Energy and Climate Change to create a new Offshore Transmission grid) is intended to ‘Go Live’. That regime will give responsibility for submarine transmission cables above 132kV to new owners (Offshore Transmission Owners), rather than wind farm operators having responsibility for those cables. This will mean that cables over 132kV will not have environmental conditions attached to them through the Food and Environment Protection Act licence held by the wind farm operator (since the cable is owned by a separate operator).

This consultation therefore proposes an amendment to the Deposits in the Sea (Exemptions) Order 1985 so that the deposit of submarine electricity transmission cables above 132 kV to be connected to an offshore energy installation will require a licence under Part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 in their own right.

This will maintain business as usual, as far as environmental regulation of cables connected to offshore wind farms is concerned, between June 2010 when Offshore Transmission Owners become responsible for cables over 132kV, and commencement of regulations under the Marine and Coastal Access Bill. This will enable the Marine and Fisheries Agency (or the new Marine Management Organisation) to continue pressing ahead with the licensing of sustainable offshore wind development and helping us to realise our ambitious aims in this area.

The closing date for responses to this consultation is 26 October 2009.

Further information

Page modified: 28 September 2009
Page published: 27 July 2009