The Welsh Government, as the marine planning authority, has today published Sector Locational Guidance (SLG) for tidal stream and wave energy, implementing Welsh National Marine Plan (WNMP) sector supporting policy which encourages a collaborative approach to understanding opportunities for sustainable development.
Sector locational guidance project | GOV.WALES
The SLG builds on and is published alongside work undertaken by Atkins, Venn Associates and Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum, carried out in collaboration with industry representatives, regulators, and environmental specialists.
The SLG aims to help guide the tidal stream and wave energy industries in planning for future development. It brings together and presents interpreted evidence to describe opportunities and natural resources of potential interest for future sector development. It also signposts considerations (e.g. around infrastructure or environmental sensitivities) with potential to cause risk or complexity for project development and consenting. SLG also describes how the focus sector (tidal stream and wave energy respectively) might interact with other sectors and activities within the marine area, signposting potential for co-existence and, also, potential conflicts. Equivalent SLG for the aquaculture sector is currently being finalised.
The SLG draws on the online storyboard-style environmental mapping and evidence packages for wave energy and tidal stream, produced through the Sustainable Management of Marine Natural Resources project, which can be found at Marine Evidence packages | GOV.WALES. SLG will also feed into work to map and identify potential Strategic Resource Areas (SRAs) to safeguard key areas of resource. Welsh Government have recently appointed contractors ABPmer to undertake this work, they are currently preparing detailed stakeholder engagement plans and will be in contact with those of you who have provided your consent to be contacted to engage in this work.
If you have any queries or would like to discuss any aspect of this further, please do feel free to contact us via MarinePlanning@gov.wales.