A new three-year action plan has been agreed to improve the marine energy consenting process in Wales.

Published by Wales’ Consenting Strategic Advisory Group (CSAG), the plan aims to tackle some of the most persistent barriers facing marine renewable energy projects, including complexity, uncertainty and delays.

Marine energy consent is a legal obligation for any marine renewable energy project. It involves obtaining permission from the relevant authorities to ensure projects comply with environmental regulations and do not adversely affect marine life or habitats.

In Wales, the process is primarily overseen by Welsh Ministers and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), depending on the project’s size and the type of consent required.

The Consenting Strategic Advisory Group (CSAG), facilitated by Marine Energy Wales, is a collaborative forum bringing together industry, Welsh Government, The Crown Estate and Natural Resources Wales to identify and address barriers to efficient, proportionate and timely consenting of projects here in Wales.

Following twelve months of extensive consultation and evidence sharing, the group has now agreed five clear priorities to focus on over the next two years:

• Improving clarity and transparency in decision-making – to build a shared understanding between developers and regulators on timelines and improve certainty where possible
• Supporting proportionate environmental impact assessments – enabling projects to scope out low-risk issues based on existing evidence
• Scaling up the use of transferable data – building upon The Crown Estate’s Data Transferability Project to improve efficiency and instances of data reuse.
• Coordinating environmental monitoring at scale – shifting from project-level monitoring to regional monitoring, learning from existing monitoring programmes to advise on a potential Welsh approach
• Connecting consenting to Port Infrastructure – enabling ports to progress timely and proportionate consents for redevelopment that supports floating offshore wind and tidal energy deployment

Jay Sheppard, Senior Project Manager at Marine Energy Wales said:

“Over the past year, CSAG has shown the value of bringing regulators, government and industry together around the same table. This new action plan marks an important shift from identifying problems to collectively delivering solutions.

“Consenting is essential to protecting our marine environment, but it must also be efficient, predictable and proportionate if Wales is to realise the full potential of marine renewables. This action plan gives us a clear framework to deliver that balance over the next two years.

“We are keen to build on this momentum and encourage organisations with an interest in marine energy consenting to get involved in CSAG. By widening participation, we can strengthen the evidence base, improve shared understanding and accelerate progress together.”

The agreed three-year plan will be delivered through focused working sessions, with all guidance developed to be shared with decision-makers.

As Secretariat, Marine Energy Wales will coordinate its delivery and ensure the plan remains adaptive as policy, legislation and projects progress.