Draft Sectoral Marine Plans for Offshore Renewable Energy in Scottish Waters: Socio - Economic Assesment

B9. Ports and Harbours

B9.1 Overview

Ports provide the modal interchange points by which goods and people are transported from land to sea. Harbours are by definition, safe havens for vessels to reside in and are often commensurate with port areas. Within Scottish waters, the ports and harbours sector supports the largest fishing industry in the UK, provides facilities for a significant offshore Oil and Gas industry, as well as maintaining ferry links to island communities and providing the recreational sector with support services. Commercial shipping information is described in Section B5 of this report. There is an intrinsic link between ports, harb ours and shipping, however the interactions and issues in relation to marine renewable developments are often distinctly different.

Within this section all port facilities have been evaluated. The supporting Figure B9 shows port and harbour installations, irrespective of whether they are part of a formal Harbour Area, established and defined under a Special Act of Parliament, or a pier/slipway in public or private ownership. Information sources used in the assessment are listed in Table B9.1.

Table B9.1 Information Sources

Scale	Information Available	Date	Source
Scotland	Baseline review of data on commercial shipping.	2012	ABPmer (2012)
Scotland	Passenger and vehicle ferry routes in Scotland, from the Scottish Government's Urban/Rural Classification for 2009-2010. Plus, Orkney Ferries and Calmac Ferries routing information added in 2011.	2011	Spatial Data Management Team, Rural Payments Inspections Directorate ( RPID), Scottish Government
Scotland	Commercial listings of ports in Scotland, service providers, contact details, description of services and current development plans	Current (2013)	Port of Scotland
Scotland	Maritime transport statistics and overview, generalised information on Scottish Ports	2009-2010	Baxter et al (2011) The Scottish Government (2011) 'Scotland's Marine Atlas - Information for the National Marine Plan' March 2011.
UK	Port and harbour locations, port types, port ownership, contact details	Current (2013)	Ports and Harbours of the UK, 2013. Website: http://www.ports.org.uk/
UK	Admiralty charted formal anchorages.	2013	UK Admiralty charts
European	Combination bathymetry file of European Marine Observation and Data Network ( EMODNET) bathymetry merged with SeaZone data captured in coastal wave models, and General Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean ( GEBCO) data which was used to cover areas lying outside the extent of the SeaZone and EMODNET data coverage.	2010	ABPmer, 2010. (R.1684 'Seabed Kinetic Energy - EUseaMAP')

B9.2 Future Trends

The UK Government policy for ports was set out in the Interim Report of the ports policy review published in 2007 (DfT, 2007). This report stated that the Government sought to 'encourage sustainable port development to cater for long-term forecast growth in volumes of imports and exports by sea with a competitive and efficient port industry capable of meeting the needs of importers and exporters cost effectively and in a timely manner'. This provides confirmation that the ports industry is supported by Government policy into the future, providing assurance of sustained development.

Ports policy was reviewed in 2006 by the Scottish Government, this concluded that the sector benefits substantially from its independence and that the Scottish Government supported its mixed ownership structure, ( i.e. Trust, Municipal and Private). Investment decisions are based on market needs rather than through central direction. The challenge for future development of this sector is based on world trade patterns and the economic climate ( BPA, 2008).

The Scottish Government is formulating a National Planning Framework. This for the first time identifies important Scottish 'National Development' infrastructure projects that will be rolled out up to 2030. The Scottish Government has said that its economic strategy requires a planning framework that supports sustainable economic growth across Scotland. Of the nine proposed National Developments three are large projects specifically related to the ports industry ( BPA, 2008).

Scotland's National Transport Policy states that "An effective road and rail infrastructure to support national and international connections by sea is essential to ensure that the critical role of ports in supporting and contributing to Scotland's business and economic health is fully realised "Future areas of possible development are international transhipment, feeder services and short sea shipping". Also, "We will continue to support UK and international ferry routes including routes to Northern Ireland, Ireland, mainland Europe and beyond" (Scottish Executive, 2006b).

The importance of the oil and gas industry to the Ports industry within Scotland, specifically ports on the East Coast, Shetland and Orkney Isles, provide a close tie between these two sectors. Although the North Sea fields are considered to be 'mature' having produced 36 billion boe, estimates suggest that there may be another 25 million boe available. Operators who specialise in extracting oil and gas from the more mature fields have purchased several of these assets from the oil majors. This has seen higher investment levels for some older fields with increased production being achieved ( BPA, 2008). The long term stability of extraction levels past 2020 is uncertain. However, the centre of excellence and expertise established in North East Ports has generated global trade in oil and gas equipment manufactured or services. Aberdeen Harbour (for example) already has three scheduled services to West African oil and gas producing countries and regularly handles other energy related cargoes to and from many other worldwide destinations ( BPA, 2008).

The increase in offshore renewable activities provides a potential source of income for ports. This is both as a base for industrial processes including manufacture of offshore renewable devices, and as a service provider for the craft needed to install and maintain offshore renewable sites during the construction and operation. Market potential is driven by the location of offshore renewable developments, and the accessibility of ports for the types of craft involved in installation and maintenance activities.

The future use, growth and development of ports are intrinsically linked to world trade patterns and the economic climate, and are reactive to changing economic circumstances. Government policy continues to support the mixed ownership structure already established, with Government backing for National Infrastructure projects, all of which provides incentives to develop port facilities. Many ports in Scotland have identified opportunities around the developing marine renewables industry, which has the potential to change the landscape of port services and increase marine traffic.

B9.3 Potential for Interaction

Table B9.2 shows potential interaction pathways between ports and harbours and wind, wave and/or tidal arrays.

Explanation of column content:

Column 1: Describes the potential interaction between the activity and any renewable technology;

Column 2: Identifies the types of offshore renewable development (wind, wave or tidal) for which the interaction may arise;

Column 3: Identifies the potential socio-economic consequence associated with the interaction identified in Column 1;

Column 4: Indicates whether detailed assessment will or will not be required if activity is scoped in;

Column 5: Identifies how the socio-economic impact will be assessed.

Table B9.2 Potential for Interaction

1	2	3	4	5
Potential Interaction	Technology Relevance (Wind, Wave, Tidal)	Potential Socio-economic Consequence	Requires Detailed Assessment (√) or Does Not Require Detailed Assessment (X)	How the Economic Impact Will be Assessed
Obstruction of maintained navigation channel(s)	All arrays	Loss of customers and revenue; increased costs associated with maintaining alternative routes	√	Discussions with individual port authority
Reduced development opportunities	All arrays	Loss of customers and revenue (long term); increased costs associated with development	√	Discussions with individual port authority to identify projected future developments at risk
Loss or reduced use of dredge material disposal sites	All arrays, export cables	Increased costs of disposal	√ (arrays)	Discussions with individual port authority

B9.4 Scoping Methodology

B9.4.1 Obstruction of Port and Harbour Maintained Navigation Channel(s) and Reduced Development Opportunities

Wind, wave and tidal arrays plus their associated cable corridors may cause obstruction and displacement of maintained navigation channels leading to port and harbour facilities. This may result in increased steaming time or the use of alternative routes with the potential that port and harbour facilities may become unattractive and/or affect commercial competitiveness. This could occur where port and harbour maintained navigation channels and Draft Plan Option areas and/or cable corridors spatially overlap. Cable corridors affect maintained navigation channels during the process of laying cables, with a temporary increase in collision risk and/or a requirement to avoid areas of work to reduce the risk of marine incidents.

As a base assumption, where density of development is less than 5% of the Draft Plan Option area, then it is concluded that avoidance of significant impacts can be achieved through spatial planning. As such, the following scoping methodology was applied for proposed wind, wave and tidal Draft Plan Option areas plus their associated cable corridors.

Offshore Wind:

• Where Draft Plan Option areas are transected by a port or harbour maintained navigation channel(s), the area has been scoped in;
• Where a Draft Plan Option area is within 5km of a port or harbour maintained navigation channel(s), the area has been scoped in; and
• If the spatial extent of indicative arrays for a given scenario occupy less than 5% of Draft Plan Option area it has been assumed that spatial planning of the Draft Plan Option area can be used to avoid significant impacts under this scenario and the area has been scoped out.

Wave:

• Where Draft Plan Option areas are transected by a port or harbour maintained navigation channel(s), the area has been scoped in;
• Where a Draft Plan Option area is within 5km of a port or harbour maintained navigation channel(s), the area has been scoped in; and
• If the spatial extent of indicative arrays for a given scenario occupy less than 1% of Draft Plan Option area and it has been assumed that spatial planning of the Draft Plan Option area can be used to avoid significant impacts under these scenarios and the area has been scoped out.

Tidal:

• Where Draft Plan Option areas are transected by a port or harbour maintained navigation channel(s), the area has been scoped in;
• Where a Draft Plan Option area is within 5km of a port or harbour maintained navigation channel(s), the area has been scoped in; and
• Where Draft Plan Option areas are in waters of depths greater than 75m, the area has been scoped out. This follows the rationale that tidal devices are stationed circa 10m from the bed (to avoid bed turbulence) and have a maximum blade around 20m in diameter, providing a 30m bed to blade tip clearance, whereas Ultra Large Crude Carriers have a maximum draught of around 35m. An Under Keel Clearance allowance of 10m is applied as a maximum working clearance ( NOREL NAV Sub Group, 2012; and
• If the spatial extent of indicative arrays for a given scenario occupy less than 5% of Draft Plan Option area it has been assumed that spatial planning of the Draft Plan Option areas can be used to avoid significant impacts under this scenario and the area has been scoped out.

The detailed output of this scoping exercise is presented in Appendix C9.

B9.5 Assessment Methodology

The assessment methodology presented in this section takes account of stakeholder concerns regarding the interaction of renewable energy (wind, wave and tidal) with ports and harbours.

B9.5.1 Impacts to Port and Harbour Maintained Navigation Channel(s) and Reduced Development Opportunities

Where a Draft Plan Option area and a maintained port approach channel overlap, the potential impact has been evaluated by consulting with the harbour authority and ascribing a qualitative measure of significance. From this, a quantitative assessment of impact on income can be calculated based on the port turnover and broad-scale effect on trade. Where necessary, alternative channel options have been evaluated and potential impact on the future development (widening/depending) of the navigation channel assessed. This assessment also included potential distribution/displacement of regular ferry routes connecting the port or harbour to other port and harbour locations. This assessment has been considered in Section B5 dealing with Commercial Shipping, with a cross-reference provided to this section for ferry route evaluation.