Energy
Section 2 – Electricity infrastructure
9.Section 2 states the circumstances in which electricity infrastructure will be a Significant Infrastructure Project. These are:
the construction of a generating station (other than a wind generating station) in Wales or the Welsh marine area, where it is expected to have an installed generating capacity of between 50MW and 350MW (inclusive);
the alteration or extension of a generating station (other than a wind generating station) in Wales or the Welsh marine area, where its effect is to increase the installed generating capacity by at least 50MW, however, the effect of the extension must not increase the overall generating capacity beyond 350MW;
the construction of a wind generating station in Wales, where it is expected to have an installed generating capacity of at least 50MW;
the alteration or extension of a wind generating station in Wales, where its effect is to increase the installed generating capacity by at least 50MW;
the installation of above ground electric lines in Wales associated with the construction, extension or alteration of a generating station which is a Significant Infrastructure Project which are expected to have a nominal voltage of 132KV and a minimum length of 2km (to the extent they are in Wales).
Section 3 – Liquified natural gas facilities
10.Section 3 states the circumstances in which development related to liquified natural gas facilities will be a Significant Infrastructure Project. These are:
for the construction of a facility in Wales or the Welsh marine area, the storage capacity is expected to be at least 43 million standard cubic metres or have a maximum flow rate of at least 4.5 million standard cubic metres per day;
for the alteration of a facility in Wales or the Welsh marine area, the existing storage capacity is expected to increase by at least 43 million standard cubic metres or by a maximum flow rate of at least 4.5 million standard cubic metres more per day.
Section 4 – Gas reception facilities
11.Section 4 states the circumstances in which development related to gas reception facilities will be a Significant Infrastructure Project. These are:
the construction of a gas reception facility in Wales or the Welsh marine area where the maximum flow rate of the facility is expected to exceed 4.5 million standard cubic metres per day;
the alteration of a gas reception facility where the maximum flow rate of the existing facility is expected to increase by at least 4.5 million standard cubic metres per day.
12.In addition, subsection (3) specifies that to qualify as a Significant Infrastructure Project, —
the gas reception facility must not handle gas that originates in Wales, England, or Scotland, the territorial sea adjacent to those territories or the Renewable Energy Zone. The “Renewable Energy Zone” is the area of the sea outside the territorial sea of the United Kingdom where the UK has exploitation rights for energy production under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (Cmnd 8941);
the gas handled by the facility must not have arrived at the facility from England or Scotland, and must not have already been handled at another facility after its arrival in Wales or the marine area.
Section 5 – Hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas and coal gasification
13.Section 5 states the circumstances in which hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas and coal gasification will be a Significant Infrastructure Project. These are:
development that is the exploration, appraisal or production of coal bed methane or shale oil or gas using unconventional extraction techniques including hydraulic fracturing in Wales or the Welsh marine area, except for exploratory boreholes which do not involve the carrying out of hydraulic fracturing, and
development that is the gasification of coal in the strata, with the exclusion of the drilling of boreholes solely for the purpose of core sampling.
Section 6 – Open cast coal mining
14.Section 6 states that the creation of open cast coal mine or the winning and working of coal from an open cast coal mine in Wales is a Significant Infrastructure Project.
