Intertek Delivers Environmental Licensing Support for Scottish Isles Telecommunication Cables
14 Sep 2021
Liphook, Hampshire, UK: Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, is pleased to announce it has been appointed by Global Marine to deliver the permits, consents and environmental supporting documentation for the installation of submarine fibre optic cables between islands in Shetland, Orkney and the Inner Hebrides. Intertek’s appointment will contribute a wealth of knowledge and experience to the project, as its technical experts have worked extensively on marine environmental quality assurance solutions for subsea cable projects in the UK, Europe and internationally, where key services have included cable routing, constraints and feasibility studies, route engineering, survey management, environmental assessment and stakeholder engagement.
Openreach is planning to install sixteen subsea cables in the Scottish Islands. The subsea build will enhance the existing infrastructure and extend superfast broadband (30Mbps+) coverage across Shetland, Orkney and Inner Hebrides as part of the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% (R100) programme being delivered by Openreach on behalf of BT.
Intertek’s responsibilities include production of the Marine Environmental Appraisals (MEA) for the Shetland, Orkney and Hebrides geographical areas; oversight of specialist environmental studies, including intertidal surveys; Navigation Risk Assessment (NRA); marine archaeology reviews; and delivery of onshore consenting requirements through our partners The Environment Partnership (TEP). Working under COVID-19 restrictions, Intertek will also manage online public consultation events.
Eric Houston, Intertek Project Director for the Project, commented: “Intertek’s Energy & Water team brings a wealth of technical expertise and experience in the environmental assessment of marine cable projects. We are delighted to support Global Marine and Openreach with the delivery of the marine licence and onshore permitting applications for installation of this critical telecommunication cable infrastructure in the Scottish Isles.”
Alex Riddell, Permitting Manager, Global Marine Group said: “We are pleased to be working together with the team at Intertek to deliver this phase of the Scottish Isles Fibre Optic Cable Project in readiness for installation work in 2022.”
Intertek Energy & Water Consultancy Services provide technical solutions to complex environmental and regulatory challenges throughout the project lifecycle for multiple sectors, including power transmission and renewables, telecommunication, oil and gas, water utility, and ports & harbours. We work as advisors and project managers for our clients through all stages of offshore development -- from concept, feasibility and design, through construction and operation, to decommissioning. In doing so, we partner with developers, operators, asset owners, utilities, lenders and government. Learn more at: www.intertek.com/energy-water/
Global Marine is part of the Global Marine Group and is a market leader in subsea cable installation and maintenance solutions to the telecoms sector amongst others. The company is in a unique position owning one of the world’s largest offshore support vessel fleets, including three purpose-built specialist installation and repair vessels, and four vessels servicing three of the world’s seven maintenance zones. Global Marine’s sister companies, also part of the wider Group, include: CWind, delivering topside, splash zone and subsea engineering services to the offshore renewables and utilities market; Global Offshore, providing cable installation, repair and trenching services to the offshore renewables, utilities and oil & gas markets; and OceanIQ, delivering subsea cable data, survey and route engineering to the telecoms, utilities, renewables and oil & gas markets.
Openreach Limited is the UK’s digital network business. It works on behalf of more than 665 communications providers like BT, SKY, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen, and its broadband network is the biggest in the UK, passing more than 31.8m premises. Openreach is building an even faster, more reliable and future-proof broadband network which will be the UK’s digital platform for decades to come, with a target to reach 25 million premises by December 2026. Openreach is a highly regulated, wholly owned, and independently governed unit of the BT Group. For the year ended 31 March 2021, Openreach reported revenue of £5,244m. For more information, visit www.openreach.com.
For Technical Information
Please contact:
Eric Houston
eric.houston@intertek.com
For Market Information
Please contact:
Niki Schroeder
niki.schroeder@intertek.com
About Intertek
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Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide. Our network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in more than 100 countries, delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for our customers' operations and supply chains. Intertek Total Quality Assurance expertise, delivered consistently with precision, pace and passion, enabling our customers to power ahead safely.