Below are some of the services that our clients regularly ask us to provide - of course, there's much more to what we do than this, so if you can't find information relating to your needs, please contact us to find out how we can help you.
Access Design Including Swept Path Analysis
We offer a range of access services to developers, custom designed to our client's specific requirements. These services include:
- Review of mapping data to identify potential routes to project sites from appropriate ports, motorway or trunk road networks including a review of routes used by existing developments
- Visual route inspection identifying potential pinch points
- Swept path analysis of pinch points identifying load path requirements and areas of temporary works including third party land
- Land registry searches on third party land and negotiations with land owners on land take requirements
- Sightline survey and assessment for planning and EIA
- Indivisible load applications to the relevant authorities to determine consultee opinion
- Production of full EIA chapter and planning consultation with the relevant authorities
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Aviation and radar
Our experience includes addressing aviation issues for over 50 projects across the UK. This covers a range of issues including:
- NATS (en route and airport radar, technical sites).
- Airport safeguarding (radar, obstacle surfaces, instrument landing systems and precision approach radar).
- Ministry of Defense (low flying, air defense radar, military air traffic control radar, military range and meteorological radar).
- Heliport and general aviation issues.
We have also been involved in consultations and the development of mitigation options including turbine size and position adjustments, non-automatic initiation zones and radar fusion.
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Collision Risk Model
The Collision Risk Model (CRM), devised by Band et al, is used to predict the theoretical annual mortality rate for bird species and can form part of the overall assessment of the potential impact on local bird populations within the Environmental Statement.
Analysis within the CRM is undertaken in three parts. Firstly a prediction, based on field observations, is made on the potential number of birds passing through the rotors. Secondly, the probability of a bird being hit is calculated. Finally, this overall risk is corrected to take into consideration active avoidance by the birds.
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We offer the following services:
- Graphical presentations for PR and exhibitions
- Project management / coordination
- Environmental coordination and liaison
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We have communities on a range of renewable energy projects, including feasibility for wind energy, small hydro, biomass and tidal energy, EIA and planning applications, grid connection support and ongoing post planning support.
These community groups include:
- Coll
- Dervaig (Mull)
- Raasay
- Assynt
- Coigach
- Tolsta (Lewis)
- Baile an Truiseil (Lewis)
- Horshader (Lewis)
- Beinn Greidaig (Lewis)
- South Uist
- Barra
- Glenelg
- Sleat
- Kerrera
- Newburgh
As the UK's leading consultancy with respect to community wind energy developments, we are uniquely placed to advise and manage projects, seeking to maximise project understanding and acceptability locally.
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Due Diligence
Our Due Diligence service checks claims in all of the service areas in which we operate.
For example: If a bank or potential owner was looking to invest in a wind farm developed by another party, we would check the information provided, ensuring that it satisfactorily covers what it needs to.
Our service provision ranges from a contract review to becoming a Bank or owner's Engineer, where we actively support the bank or potential owner in terms of contract negotiation and further work such as construction monitoring.
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Ecological Clerk of Works
To ensure that consented development projects can be efficiently realised in a coordinated, environmentally acceptable manner, we have a dedicated team providing a range of Clerk of Works serices. The team is suppported by our ecological, ornithological and hydrological specialists and offer the following:
- Development of practical and deliverable Pollution Prevention Plans (PPP) habitat and species management plans, monitoring programmes and pollution event response protocols
- Negotiation of agreements with key stakeholders and statutory authorities over the content of such plans and programmes
- Provision of Hydrological and Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW) services for site investigations, enabling works, during construction, watching briefs and monitoring
- Data management and analysis, client reporting and representation on management groups
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Electrical Design
Our technical services include:
Grid connection capacity study
A study of information available from DNOs (Distribution Network Operator) and transmission asset owners combined with information held by Atmos Consulting is used to determine the likely cost and timescales of a grid connection. Up to three connection strategies are considered and the limitations and opportunities of each are discussed.
Connection route design and analysis
Investigations can be made to determine the merits of particular connection routes. This can be used in an ES (Environmental Statement), as some councils request, or as part of negotiations with a DNO.
Advice on policy and queue management
The policies and procedures governing grid connections are in a period of change. We can advise on this and on the timing of connection applications and the costs involved.
Grid connection application
We can submit a grid connection application along with supporting diagrams and information. This includes a discussion of the connection offer once received, and can reveal large elements of the connection works, which are not included in the offer.
Electrical considerations for site design
This covers Electrical engineering factors that are integrated into the wind farm design process and include implementing electrical substations to minimise electrical losses and cable routes that satisfy ecological and engineering considerations.
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Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)
Wind turbines have the potential to disrupt fixed radio and microwave communication links through refractive and reflective interference. With the significant expansion of telecommunications masts and infrastructure in recent years, most new wind farm developments will encounter Electromagetic Interference (EMI) issues. We can provide:
- Accurate identification of fixed communication link broadcast masts using high resolution aerial photography.
- Fresnel and clearance zone identification.
- Consultation with communication link operators to determine clearances required.
We also advise on mitigation options including fixed link re-routing via underground, terrestrial and satellite links.
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Energy Yield assessment
We provide a robust and comprehensive range of energy yield assessment services to clients, using our technical skills and software programes, tailored to our client's specific requirements. These services include:
- Met mast specification, locating, planning, owners engineer through installation and ongoing data collection and screening including remote sensing technologies
- Screening and detailed analysis of met data and presented into any format required by the client
- CFD modeling and analysis including assessment of complex terrain
- Long term prediction through MCP, turbine model energy comparison, turbulence analysis, energy yield prediction and sensitivity analysis
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Expert Witness
We have recently provided Expert Witnesses at Public Inquiries on a number of issues including ecology, ornithology, planning, operational matters plus access and recreational impacts.
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Industrial Renewables
Our expertise in site design and turbine optimisation, electrical engineering, planning and environmental analysis allows us to provide all the required services in relation to 'industrial' or 'merchant wind' energy development (where a user of energy such as a farm, factory, housing scheme or business park chooses to generate energy on-site).
We're retained by Scottish and Southern Energy's Community and Commercial Wind team to provide screening, feasibility and EIA support. We are also advising a number of independent site operators who are seeking to generate renewable energy to offset rising electricity costs as well as meeting corporate objectives for carbon footprint reduction.
Our work in screening and designing tightly constrained industrial sites has given us unrivalled expertise in constraints analysis and site optimisation.
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Noise Monitoring and Analysis
We can provide noise monitoring and noise assessment services for wind farm developers ranging from feasibility through to planning, EIA assessment and reporting. These services include:
- Noise analysis and advice for feasibility assessments linked to the site design process. A range of criteria can be used and bespoke analysis performed where required
- Liaison with environmental health departments within local authorities to determine scope of assessments required for planning and EIA
- Background noise monitoring at potentially noise sensitive locations to a defined methodology and installation of concurrent wind speed measurement through traditional met mast or remote sensing
- Analysis of noise and wind speed data to provide baseline criteria for project design
- Environmental statement reporting for consideration by planning authorities
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Ornithology
Ornithological studies are planned and managed by our ornithology team throughout the UK, with current casework involving a range of proposed or completed developments, from hydro schemes to wind farms.
As part of our service we provide detailed site and species-specific surveys, to quantify breeding and non-breeding bird populations and/or assess bird behaviour and flight activity.
Once surveys have been completed the ornithological data we collect is used to inform statutory bodies (such as SNH or Natural England) of the potential impact a development may have on species identified during our surveys. This data may, depending on the scale of a development, be presented within an Environmental Statement as part of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
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