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TNEI has been boosted by a number of recent appointments within its Planning & Environmental Group based in Newcastle upon Tyne and Glasgow. Niall Kelly, an experienced chartered town planning consultant, Liz Russell, a graduate planning consultant and Andrew Kinghorn, an ornithological surveyor have joined the Newcastle office. Craig Potter, a consultant specialising in EIA management and planning, has joined the Glasgow office. Both Niall and Craig bring with them a wealth of experience working in the development industry, particularly within the consultancy sector. Liz and Andrew are recent graduates with a strong academic background, relevant work experience and a keen interest in their respective fields. Commenting on the new recruits, Andy Edgar – Director of the Planning & Environmental Group, said “The Group has performed very well in 2013 and developed a strong existing workload and project pipeline. These positive appointments reflect our growth plans for both Newcastle and

Gedling Borough Council have granted consent for a single 100 metres to blade tip turbine on land within the Green Belt at Stoke Bardolph Sewage Treatment Works in Nottinghamshire. The scheme was a resubmission of a previous planning application for two 132m to blade tip turbines which was refused planning permission in April 2012.TNEI were commissioned by Regeneco Ltd, on behalf of Severn Trent Water, to provide full planning and environmental consultancy services on the Severn Trent Water wind project. TNEI undertook environmental and technical assessments on site for the purposes of compiling supporting documentation and submitting the planning application. TNEI then managed the relationships with key stakeholders through the lifetime of the application. The proposal was recommended for approval by the Planning Department and approved by the Planning Committee in September 2013. The scheme will consist of a single turbine with a maximum height to blade tip of 100

TNEI’s Power Systems Team has recently started work on a Technology and Market Foresighting Study for Scottish Enterprise, with the aim of assisting Scottish Enterprise to gain a thorough understanding of the potential technologies that may be used to alleviate grid constraints and enable the continued integration of renewable energy generation onto the networks. The study will then identify those technologies that are most promising and the risks and issues associated with the technologies. The study will include a market analysis of the proposed options and a case study focussing on marine renewable energy in Scotland. The categories of technology options to be analysed are as follows: Upgrading the existing network ““ i.e. reinforcement; Interconnection with other countries; Demand side management; Adding flexible generation to the grid; and Incorporating storage into the system. This piece of work builds on TNEI’s strong track record in delivering innovation projects such as Low

TNEI, working with PPA Energy, has recently started work on a project for RenewableUK. Led by Dr Anna Ferguson, TNEI’s Regulatory Lead, the objective of this work is to help the wind industry prepare for and capitalise on emerging and future grid connection and system operation requirements. This includes identifying current technical and commercial opportunities for wind, wave and tidal generators in providing services to the System Operator, identifying trends and anticipating milestones in grid connections system operation requirements and identifying the short to mid-term technical, commercial and regulatory opportunities and risks for the wind and marine industries. It is expected that a programme of recommendations will be identified which will include potential policy, regulatory and network Code changes.

Staff from TNEI will be presenting at the forthcoming International Wind Integration Workshop in London which focuses on large-scale integration of wind power into power systems and transmission networks for offshore wind power plants. TNEI – represented by Managing Director Rachel Hodges and Technical Consultant Muhammad Ali – will be providing expert insight and advice on the specific studies required for long AC cables, presenting a methodology to determine a robust design option to interconnect large offshore wind projects together, and to connect these wind projects to the shore, which is a particular problem for offshore wind farms. The workshop is being held at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, London on 22-24 October and more information on the event can be found here: http://www.windintegrationworkshop.org/index.php

TNEI has qualified for membership of the EIA Quality Mark scheme administered by IEMA, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. Qualification recognises TNEI’s commitment to excellence in all aspects of EIA delivery and practice and follows a rigorous review process. Membership of the scheme includes TNEI within a group of less than 50 UK industry leaders in the provision of EIA services. Quality Mark members comply with a set of key commitments and are subject to annual review of Environmental Statements ensuring ongoing effective practice and continual improvement. Our EIA team, spread across our Newcastle upon Tyne and Glasgow offices, has extensive experience of undertaking high quality, thorough EIAs leading to an enviable consenting record. In addition to our specialist expertise in renewable energy developments, our EIA team has experience covering a wide range of developments from residential property schemes to large scale infrastructure projects. TNEI has managed and