7.3 Scope


7.3.1 Study Area 16.


The East Anglia THREE site is located in the southern North Sea, encompassing a sea bed area of approximately 305km2. At its closest point to shore, the East Anglia THREE site is approximately 69km offshore from Lowestoft on the Suffolk coast (Figure 7.1).


17.


Water depths across the East Anglia THREE site typically range from 35m below Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT) to 45m below LAT, but the extreme depths range from a minimum of 25m below LAT to a maximum of 49mbelow (Table 7.2).


Table 7.2 Summary of East Anglia THREE site characteristics Description


Area Total site


Water depth <35m Water depth 35-45m Water depth >45m Water depth >50m


18.


(km2) 304.8 47.5


243.3 14.0 0.0


(%)


100.0 15.6 79.8 4.6 0.0


The offshore cable corridor covers an area of sea bed of 838km2, with a maximum length of 155km. This corridor is coincident with that being considered for the proposed East Anglia FOUR project. The inshore section and landfall of the corridor (at Bawdsey in Suffolk) are identical to that previously assessed for the proposed East Anglia ONE project.


19.


The assessment of effects on marine geology, oceanography and physical processes considers the direct footprint of the proposed East Anglia THREE project (near-field) and the wider areas of sea bed and shoreline that potentially could be affected (far- field).


7.3.2 Worst Case 20.


In accordance with the requirements of the Project Design Envelope (also known as the Rochdale Envelope) approach to environmental impact assessment (EIA) (IPC 2011), realistic worst case assumptions in terms of potential effects upon marine geology, oceanography and physical processes have been adopted (see Chapter 3 Policy and Legislative Context section 3.5 for more information on the Project Design Envelope).


Preliminary Environmental Information May 2014


East Anglia THREE Offshore Windfarm Chapter 7 Marine Geology, Oceanography and Physical Processes Page 5


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