Ørsted has issued a rebuttal to objections from Marque Oil & Gas, which is seeking to appraise and develop a gas field off the island’s east coast.
Marque Oil argued that the gas resource in the area is “of potentially significant size and value” and would generate “considerably more revenue to the Isle of Man government and the citizens of the Isle of Man” than the quoted £2bn value of the wind farm.
It formally objected “to any granting of award to develop the wind-farm until the valuations of both options are fully considered.”
Marque Oil warned that a wind farm could preclude gas development, saying: “A gas field appraisal programme could not be conducted with wind farm turbines in place, or whilst they are being installed.”
The company also raised a “potential hydrocarbon leak risk from pile-driving and operational activity,” calling it “an unacceptable risk of serious environmental damage.”
Ørsted
In its official response, the applicant Ørsted firmly rejected these arguments.
“The Applicant disagrees with Marque Oil’s view that the uncertainty related to finding productive hydrocarbons that can be commercially exported back to the UK is comparable to any contractual arrangements for an offshore wind project,” the response said.
On the specific safety hazard, Ørsted asserted its approach “reflects industry best practice and robust safety standards”.
The company added: “The presence of shallow gas poses no significant risk to jack-up operations or monopile installation. Similar conditions have been successfully managed on other projects.”
It added, “There is no evidence that pile installation reactivates faults. In fact, oil and gas extraction creates far greater pressure changes and associated risks than wind farm construction activities.”
Addressing the request to delay the wind farm for gas appraisal, Ørsted stated such a delay “would place considerable uncertainty on the programme of planned works involving contracts with a long lead time”.
It added this would cause an “associated delay to realising the financial and other benefits to the Isle of Man” that would “far exceeded the time required for a gas appraisal programme.”