- 4 months ago
Watch our interview with Orsted's Mooir Vannin project director Jamie Baldwin
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00:00Hello, I'm Jamie Baldwin. I'm the Development Project Director for the Morvanet Offshore Wind Park.
00:06Thank you. Can you just tell us a little bit more about the £2 billion benefit to the Manx economy?
00:13Yeah, sure. Thanks for coming today. Absolutely. We've obviously launched the brochure today
00:19and we want to share that as widely as possible.
00:22And we have calculated the £2 billion financial benefit based on our expectations around what
00:31we will contribute through taxation and also through the seabed rental directly to the
00:37Isle of Man government and the island. So just to add in addition to that, we've also previously
00:44announced the Community Investment Fund, which is £1.5 million for the first 15 years.
00:52Right. And, yeah, obviously we've got the initial benefit of the taxation, but could this lead
01:03to a more established new renewables industry in the longer term?
01:08On the island?
01:08Yes.
01:09Yeah.
01:09I think the possibility is absolutely there. This is a big wind farm and if it goes ahead,
01:15that the energy generated would far exceed the demand for the island, we would be looking
01:23to export the majority of the energy to the UK, but also the opportunity exists for us to
01:29supply directly to the island enough energy to support the whole of the island. I think
01:37in terms of the supply chain and building that, clearly there will be opportunities and jobs
01:45created should the proposed wind farm go ahead. I think that from a construction perspective,
01:51it would be, the island is probably too small to manage that and we would be looking to construct
01:56and use ports, established ports in the UK, but there's definitely opportunities for jobs
02:03on an ongoing basis and we will have an operational and maintenance base here at Douglas Harbour.
02:10You've traded one for the other wind farm, didn't you? You've traded a base here.
02:20Yes, for some of our operations to support our existing Irish Sea operational wind farms.
02:30We do have a UK west base at Barrow and you'll probably know James because I understand you've
02:36lived in Hull recently, we've also got a UK east base over in Grimsby, so they're established,
02:42they already support our existing fleet in the UK. Yeah, excellent. I want to talk about the
02:51environmental impact, people obviously will be concerned by these, there are pretty vast
02:55in farms, the large state of islands. What will the environmental impact be on the marine life,
03:04on migrating birds? Yeah, what sort of studies have been carried out on that sort of impact?
03:10Sure, well in terms of birds, the best mitigation really in terms of minimising and producing any
03:19impact on migratory birds is the siting of the wind farm and we've worked very closely with both DEFER,
03:27but also the Max Wildlife Trust and other organisations to get their feedback and work with them on the
03:33siting of the wind farm for this proposal. We're confident that those impacts have been minimised and
03:41can be mitigated sufficiently. In terms of some of the other environmental impacts,
03:50during a construction period, which is typically a four to five year period, we will need to work
03:55closely with DEFER to ensure that we're minimising any impacts from things like piling foundations and
04:01underwater noise and there's some quite stringent regulations in place in Europe and in the UK to
04:09support that. So they're quite well established and we've signed up to those in other parts of Europe,
04:18as I've said. I think the other point to mention is that there will be official impact. You mentioned
04:23they are pretty big these wind turbines these days and to some extent we're constrained by the fact that
04:30we want to, or the Island Man government want to develop this in Manx territorial waters and therefore
04:36that extends out to 12 nautical miles, about 22 kilometres. So we do have to be within that boundary
04:44as such and because of that we will, and the island and the residents on the island, will get that
04:52financial benefit, like I mentioned, the two billion over the operational lifetime. There's a lot of
04:57development in the Irish Sea, as people are probably aware. For instance there's plans at Morgan offshore wind
05:04farm, which at its closest point also comes to that 12 nautical mile boundary, but in that case there won't
05:13be any direct benefits on the island because that's within the UK territorial waters. So I guess what
05:19I'm saying is yes they're going to be quite close. Having said that, there's at least 20 existing
05:26offshore wind farms that are closer to the UK coast than Morbanon would be if they're going to head to
05:33the island. And it will be visually people will be able to see this wind farm. Yeah they will. I mean I saw this
05:39morning you could see from Douglas in the distance some of the existing turn lines in the Irish Sea.
05:46And so they will they will be visible, but as I say that that is happening anyway in terms of the
05:54other proposals that are going to be closer to to the island. So I think it's really important that
06:01we are open and honest about that visual impact, but also that we weigh that up against the clear
06:08financial, socio-economic, environmental benefits as well as the energy security benefits to the island.
06:16Yeah and moving on to the scale of it, I think in March you talked about maybe around 87,
06:25the highest could be 350 metres, but I understand that probably won't be the height eventually.
06:32Yeah it always comes up and it's obviously quite a big number. I think what we're trying to present
06:40here is what we call a maximum design scenario. I don't seriously believe we'll be close to that
06:47kind of maximum design, but this is a project which takes years to develop and it gives us some
06:55flexibility as to what the technology for wind turbines and the scale of the wind turbines might
07:00be in kind of six to seven years time. So at the moment, also this building Hornsea 3 over in the
07:10North Sea at the moment, at the height of those turbines is around 240-250 metres high. It might be
07:19yeah a little bit higher than that, but certainly in the mid 200 metres. So it is giving us some
07:26flexibility. Our assessments are based on that maximum design, so we are presenting a more conservative
07:35impact in terms of the plugging application. Yeah, so it's still 87, that's roughly the number?
07:42Yeah, so we've reduced down from 100 to 87, we have slightly reduced the kind of range of the turbines,
07:49and that's really in consultation with particularly other offshore users such as shipping, shipping lines
07:58and fisheries. Yeah. As you mentioned, I will just move on to that. So why seem, I seem to be a bit concerned,
08:06particularly when you look at the map and they'll see all the other wind farm developments and how
08:12that will impact on ferries, the steam packet ferries and other marine users. So what have you,
08:19what kind of consultation have you had with the other marine users and the steam packet on?
08:23Yeah, we've got direct relationships with all the shipping lines including the steam packets and
08:32we've had positive discussions with them and again with fishing organisations. So yeah,
08:43generally they're pretty positive and we're certainly close to agreements with those in terms of
08:49having safe distances for shipping in particular between Morvan and some of the other proposed wind farms.
08:59Yeah. So those discussions have been going on for, you know, a couple of years now. Yeah.
09:05Okay, thanks. And also in terms of supplying the island, you mentioned in the brochure that there's
09:18two options for the Ironman that could lay cable and get, you know, energy directly fed into the
09:25island grid or they could just buy it from the UK. What sort of sort of view, what would you think
09:31would be the best option for the Ironman and if they do lay a cable would that be totally on the
09:37government to fund that or with Orsted? No, I think it's a good point. Orsted is investing
09:45and will fund this project entirely. So there is no direct investment at all cost to the Ironman
09:52government or the taxpayers and that's and therefore no operational or expenditure risk for taxpayers on the
10:01island. So if we put in our planning application, a cable route that comes back to the island
10:08and Orsted would commit to laying that cable if that's what the Ironman government and also in
10:15consultation with Max Utilities would prefer. So the opportunity there exists to do that. There are
10:21some regulatory challenges and hurdles that we need to overcome with with the government around that,
10:28but we definitely want and it's definitely on the table to have that option to provide the island
10:34directly from the wind farm and to cover the whole demand for the island. So we can lay that cable back
10:42and we can go to come to the island after that it is Max Utilities responsibilities as I understand.
10:48So there are ones that are on the island transformers or whatever would happen. Yeah, yeah, we're not able
10:53to put in those applications, that is Max Utilities, but we've absolutely allowed for that opportunity to go forward.
11:01Yeah. Excellent. Right. And then finally, it'll go smoothly. The publication goes through, you get to build it
11:13and, you know, would this be a trigger for all the wind farm developments, you think? I mean,
11:25is Orsted got anything else in the pipeline as a government approach to Orsted about any other
11:31opportunities? Where do things stand in the once, you know, after the, you know, Vannon project?
11:40Well, let's try and get the Moor-Vannon one approved from our perspective. Look, as I said at the beginning,
11:48the Moor-Vannon wind farm would provide well in excess of what's required for the island. We, back in 2014,
11:58we were invited to tender by the Island Map government on the back of the Marie plan that the government
12:06produced at that point. So I think it's really important to be clear that we, we and other
12:11developers are invited. So this is something that has come from the government over the years.
12:17I think that is probably a question for government. We have not had any kind of further discussions
12:23about future plans. As I say, I think if we are able to build out this wind farm, it's a pretty
12:32significant, uh, energy generator, not just for the island, but also the opportunity, uh,
12:38financially, but also back to the UK to really benefit the island. And I think it, you know,
12:44over 35 years, that is a potential game changing. That's, you know, over 50 million pounds plus every
12:51year for 35 years. Yeah.
12:54And, and just on that point then, people, you know, the cynical people will think it's a bit
13:00part of the sky. Yeah. But, um, how, how can you convince people that this is, you know, generally,
13:06this is the impact it's going to have? I mean... Well, in terms of the positive financial impact?
13:12Yeah, yeah. Well, we've, we've, I mean, we're, also there's the, still there, I think, certainly in Europe,
13:17the leading offshore wind farm operator. We've got 11, I think, operational sites in the UK. So we, it's,
13:26it isn't pie in the sky in other parts of, uh, of the world and in, in the UK. And therefore, it is based
13:34on what we, what reality we've seen. And the two billion figure is based on, uh, expectations and based
13:42on what we've paid in terms of taxation and seabed rent in, uh, other, other places in, uh, particularly
13:49around the UK. So that figure isn't a, we haven't just made up a number here. It is based on, on that.
13:56It's also based on, you know, the proposals for a 1.4 gigawatt, uh, wind farm. So if that, if it was
14:02less than that, it would probably be slightly less proportionally good. It is based on that. And as I
14:08say, we've also got this community investment fund as part of that. So there is a, a significant,
14:14a very significant financial, uh, benefit through revenue to the government. There is also a pretty
14:21significant community investment fund, as well as obviously the potential for energy security for
14:26the island, for jobs, for, uh, future employment on a long-term basis. So they, I think they all are
14:35obviously positive social economic impacts and that will be part of the, uh, of the application
14:41and will be weighed up by the examiners, um, uh, in due course, hopefully, if, if the application is
14:47accepted. Uh, and then obviously the decision lines with, uh, with the island of government.
14:53Yeah. And one final thing, uh, lawsuit journal said this week, uh, issues with,
15:00regarding Orsted's US, um, industry. And there's some concerns around there about selling assets and
15:09shares falling this week. Will it have any impact at all on the UK projects and the other money project?
15:17It won't have any impact on more than indirectly, no. Uh, the, the UK market and the island man included
15:25in that is, is a core market for Orsted. Uh, there are some challenges in, in the US. I think those are
15:32well documented, not just for ourselves, but also for other developers. Uh, we also announced yesterday
15:39our half yearly, uh, figures which were pretty strong. Um, so no, uh, this is a project that is, is, uh,
15:48high on the priority base for Orsted. It is, uh, funded, uh, we've spent tens of million pounds already
15:55on this project. Uh, just in June, we spent two million pounds on a seabed geotech survey. So,
16:01you know, we are fully committed to this project.
16:07Thank you very much. That's great. Thank you.
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