Mona Offshore Wind Farm Socio-economics Environmental Impact Assessment

In July, the Secretary of State for Energy Security & Net Zero granted development consent for the Mona Offshore Wind Farm, which will be located within Welsh waters in the Irish Sea. Hardisty Jones delivered the socio-economic inputs on behalf of the project, which will generate around 1.5 GW of renewable electricity. 

Our inputs included socio-economics EIA, technical economic impact modelling, and an outline skills and employment plan. 

Socio-economics EIA 

What are the potential economic and social impacts of offshore wind development 

We prepared a socio-economics EIA which assessed the potential impacts the project might have on the following environmental conditions: 

• Economic: assessing the potential employment and GVA impacts associated with the project, and the associated impacts on local employment opportunities. 

• Social: assessing the potential impacts of the workforce associated with the project on population, housing, and local services. 

• Tourism: assessing the potential indirect impacts on tourism. 

Socio-economics EIA practice has typically focused on assessing economic impacts, with limited bandwidth given to ‘socio’ (or social) impacts. Current best practice determines that both economic and social impacts should be treated with equal importance. Given our experience working across UK consenting regimes, we were well positioned to advise the Applicant on the latest requirements in this area.  

Our experience and specialist knowledge was required in assessing the highly case-specific impact of the project on the economy and population of the Isle of Man, which was raised by stakeholders and residents’ as a matter of concern. To ensure this was properly considered within the socio-economics EIA, Hardisty Jones developed a bespoke approach to assessing potential impacts. This included sourcing ferry operator data on service performance, mapping interactions between freight and passenger ferry services and all sectors within the Isle of Man’s economy and its population, which went on to inform an assessment of impact magnitude and receptor sensitivity. 

How to define socio-economic study areas when assessing offshore wind development impacts 

One key aspect of a socio-economics EIA is determining the most suitable offshore study areas to assess. Unlike the majority of other topics, the socio-economic impacts associated with an offshore wind farm are not linked directly to the project site. This is particularly the case for offshore infrastructure, where despite the location of the project site, impacts will manifest onshore. Industry best practice guidance (Marine Scotland, 2022) sets out that the various components which contribute to the delivery of offshore wind developments have different ‘epicentres of impact’ – locations from where the potential impacts ‘radiate’, including construction and operations and maintenance ports involved in the delivery of offshore infrastructure.  

This presents a different challenge to determining appropriate study areas for assessment. We therefore applied our experience and knowledge of national and local government strategic planning policy, functional economic market areas, population and labour market statistics, renewable and low carbon energy sectors, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify appropriate study areas for assessment. 

Furthermore, the process for defining local study areas of socio-economic assessment varied based on the impacts being assessed. Economic impacts were assessed separately from social impacts, and considered different local study area – within socio-economics EIA practice, this is termed the ‘dual geography’ principle. 

How did we approach interactions between socio-economics and other topics? 

The assessment of socio-economic impacts increasingly requires practitioners to seek inputs from other topics. 

For example, the assessment of potential tourism effects requires consideration of indirect impacts associated with a variety of EIA specialisms. Therefore, our approach draws on the separate assessments of visual impacts, transport and traffic, noise and vibration, land use and recreation, heritage, and ecology, and applies these findings to assessing potential tourism effects. This is done alongside a review of the evidence of potential linkagesbetween offshore wind farms and the visitor economy.  

Technical economic impact reporting 

As a specialist economic development consultancy, Hardisty Jones has experience and knowledge in modelling the economic impacts associated with development schemes. We therefore delivered a bespoke technical impact report as part of our socio-economic inputs to the Mona Offshore Wind Farm application. This provided estimates of economic impacts in terms of jobs and GVA at the project, UK and local levels. Our reporting presented a number of potential future scenarios based on current and future infrastructure and supply chain capabilities and outcomes.  

Our specialisms in both economic impact modelling and EIA were advantageous in this regard, as this allowed for a comprehensive understanding of impact drivers from an EIA practitioner perspective, which supported a more robust assessment overall. 

Skills and Employment Plan 

The socio-economics workstream presented an opportunity for applications to set out measures aimed at enhancing beneficial impacts, as well as mitigating adverse impacts. As such, Hardisty Jones developed an OutlineEmployment and Skills Plan, which set out how Applicants intend to develop and support the economic benefits associated with the project in relation to skills and employment within the offshore wind sector in North Wales and beyond. 

Drawing on our expertise and experience in labour market conditions and skills and training initiatives, we delivered an Outline Skills and Employment Plans setting out objectives to increase offshore wind skills and employment through education, apprenticeships, and workforce development. 

Get in touch 

If you would like to discuss how Hardisty Jones can provide specialist support to help you deliver robust socio-economic inputs to a major energy infrastructure project, please contact our service lead Joshua Harding-Jones.