Microsoft Word Report 11 02 Wave Power final ex appendix doc

Time and resources 
Establishment of wave energy farms will require consent from the authorities. 
There are examples of early consent processes requiring more than 25 
permits and contacts with ten public departments
20
.
The time consumption of the consenting process varies greatly, both within 
and between countries, depending both on the type of process, on the 
sensitivity of the selected location and the stakeholders’ opinions. In the UK, 
data collection and consultations are extensive parts of the consenting 
process. Consultations are held with a wide group of stakeholders and data 
collection requirements of up to 2 years must be expected. The actual 
application process thereafter is expected to last approximately 8-9 months
21
.
In Sweden, only one wave farm has been consented so far and there were no 
appeals to that consent. It took 8 months from the consent application 
(including EIA) was handed in to the Environmental court until the consent 
was given. It is however difficult to know if that is a typical process. 
“One stop shop” consenting
Introduction of “one-stop-shop” consenting processes, where all parts of the 
application, EIA and consent process can be handled through one authority is 
one strategy to avoid or at least reduce the complexity and waste of time and 
resources.
Scotland started working with a one stop shop approach in April 2010 with the 
newly formed authority Marine Scotland, which has been given responsibility 
to coordinate consents for wave, tidal and offshore wind energy applications.
In Ireland, consenting of construction and operation of wave farms is still 
spread among a number of authorities. It is currently the developer’s 
responsibility to seek opinion and consent from all of these authorities. 
However, introduction of a one stop shop system is planned as one of the 
main tasks of the Ocean Energy Development Unit
20
.
Denmark follows a one-stop-shop procedure in their regulatory framework for 
EIA and consent for offshore wind and ocean energy
22
. In Sweden, a number 
of authorities have to give consent for the establishment and operation of a 
wave farm, e.g. the Environmental court for consent according to the 
environmental act and the “Legal, financial and administrative services 
agency” for “Right of disposition” of the area. An electricity network 
concession is also required for grid connection and building permits may be 
required by the local authorities if the establishment takes place within the 
12nm limit
23
.
20
Dalton et al, 
Non-technical barriers to wave energy development, comparing 
progress in Ireland and Europe
, 2009 
21
http://www.marinemanagement.org.uk/works/energy/documents/application_flowchar
t.pdf and http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/295194/0096754.pdf
22
Simas et al, 
Review and Discussion of common environmental legislation for ocean 
energy schemes
, 2009 
23
MKB för Vågkraftspark i Sotenäs, Seabased Industry AB, 2009-10-26 

---

ELFORSK 
31 
In Norway, all generating facilities with a component over 1 000 Volt need 
consent according to the Energy act
24
. These consents are handled by the 
Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate. An environmental impact 
assessment is required for production of electrical energy with an installed 
power of above 25 MW
25
.