MARKETS/SERVICES
Introduction
Market Sectors
Services - Buildings
Services - Environment
■	Air Quality Management
■	Archaeology
■	Asset Management
■	Aviation
■	Coastal Management
■	Contaminated Land
■	Dams & Reservoirs
■	Development Infrastructure
■	Ecology
■	Environmental Engineering
■	Environmental Impact Assessment
■	Environmental Management
■	Environmental Monitoring
■	Flood Risk Management
■	Geotechnical
■	Pipelines and Water Distribution
■	Renewable Energy
■	Sewerage
■	Small Hydro Power
■	Strategic Environmental Assessment
	■	Marine Renewables SEA
■	Waste Management
■	Water & Wastewater Treatment
■	Water Management
Services - Transportation
Sustainability
Capabilities A - Z

Environment Brochure

Download our Environment Brochure (PDF)

Marine Renewables SEA

Scotland

Project outline

The Scottish Government commissioned Faber Maunsell to undertake a major study to examine the environmental impacts of harnessing energy from Scotland’s marine environment. Consultants Faber Maunsell, in association with Metoc, carried out an assessment of the potential impacts of a range of technologies for generating renewable energy from waves and tides. The study team has undertaken a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) which will play an important role in informing the future development of a marine renewable energy industry in Scotland.

The study area focused on the west coast of Scotland, Orkney, Shetland and the Pentland Firth. Within this area lies a considerable, and as yet untapped, renewable energy resource. A variety of new technologies are being developed which can convert the motion of waves and tides into energy. Some of these devices float on the surface while others lie on the sea floor or are completely or partially submerged.

The Scottish Government’s interest in marine renewable energy is driven by an ambitious target of increasing the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources in Scotland to 40% by 2020. The Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland’s (FREDS) recent report into the development of the marine energy industry indicated that by 2020, 10% of Scotland’s electricity production can come from marine resources, providing up to 7,000 jobs.

The SEA undertaken by Faber Maunsell and Metoc considered the environmental impacts of marine renewable energy devices, both individually and cumulatively. The study included all relevant marine, coastal and land based environmental issues ranging from marine ecology, to fisheries, archaeology and the coastal landscape / seascape.

Consultation with interested parties – including environmental organisations, developers and local communities – was a key part of the study. Ultimately the findings of the SEA will be used to inform national and local level decisions on marine renewable energy policy. This in turn will form a foundation on which the environmental assessment, planning, and development of individual projects will be based.

Key features

SEA, policy development, consultation
Marine environment and ecology
Navigation, fisheries, seascape, archaeology

Appointment

Strategic Environmental Assessment for the development of marine renewable energy.