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Offshore Renewable Energy Licensing Group

The Offshore Renewable Energy Licensing Group (ORELG) has been established as a group to bring together regulators and examining authorities, government bodies and sector groups with a focus on marine renewable and offshore wind. These organisations are drawn from across the UK and share the common aim of promoting well organised and efficient regulatory and examination processes. This includes identifying actions and developments required, acting to make sure they are carried out (including commissioning action) and agreeing their completion.

The group has important links to the Department of Energy and Climate Change's Marine Energy Programme Board, the Offshore Wind Developers Forum to which it reports on progress, and to the Offshore Renewable Research Steering Group, which is a sub-group of the Marine Science Co-ordination Committee.

The group was originally established by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) at the request of the Marine Energy Programme and has subsequently broadened its remit to consider issues affecting renewable licensing in English waters as well as shared issues with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Guidelines for data acquisition to support marine environmental assessments of offshore renewable energy projects

This document, published by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, has been peer-reviewed by members of the ORELG and represents the first in a series of proposed initiatives aimed at driving forward industry best practice. They have been designed to promote a consistent and comprehensive approach to assessing the marine environment, as part of the planning process associated with the development of offshore renewable energy developments. As such, their use is supported by members of the ORELG in combination with appropriate consultation with the relevant statutory advisors at critical stages in the environmental assessment process.

Download Guidelines for data acquisition to support marine environmental assessments of offshore renewable energy projects (PDF 1.3 MB)

The way we work – tackling issues

ORELG's main purpose is to overcome any issues arising from the licensing and permitting processes associated with the deployment of offshore wind and wave and tidal renewable energy. Such issues may be related to processes or the way that work is carried out, resources or evidence and data.

To support this task ORELG has developed a log of the priority issues and will use this as the main tool to organise and prioritise its work. Download and read the priority issues list (PDF 36 KB) (last updated 9 January 2013).

ORELG membership includes government, regulators, examining authorities and the main trade bodies for the sector. This is in order to make sure that the group develops a comprehensive and balanced view of issues to be resolved. However, the group also welcomes input from developers and those involved in the sector to develop and deepen its understanding of the issues that require attention, together with their potential solutions.

Those who wish to contribute in this way may be invited to attend a meeting to discuss the topic raised. However, please note that the group will not discuss specific projects and will confine discussions to issues at a more generic level.

Meetings and minutes

ORELG meets quarterly and minutes are available below.