Assistance in environmental permitting procedure for offshore telecom cable (Belgium, France)
EXA Infrastructure planned to develop a telecommunications (telecom) cable between Broadstairs, Joss Bay in the UK and Ostend in Belgium ('Q&E North Project'). During the development of the Project, several options for the cable route were considered through an options appraisal process, which considered a range of technical, legal, environmental, social and commercial factors. In Belgium, the cable route crosses both the Natura 2000 Habitat Directive area (SBZ-H) 'Flemish Banks' and the Bird Directive area 'SBZ-V2'. In France, the route transits the French offshore waters.
IMDC was responsible for the preparation of the necessary permits for the Q&E North Project in Belgium and France. In Belgium it required an integrated environmental and cable laying permit application for the construction/installation and operation of a telecom cable. IMDC drew up the Belgian permit applications and required studies such as Federal Environmental Impact Report, draft Appropriate Assessment and waste management plan. IMDC was also responsible for the stakeholder engagement in Belgium. Our subcontractor was responsible for the permit and required studies for the transit through French offshore waters.
Tasks:
- Developing a permit matrix for Belgium (Federal offshore and Flemish onshore) and France (offshore transit);
- Preparation of the integrated Environmental and Cable laying Permit application file (Belgium offshore);
- Writing the environmental impact report (EIR) (Belgium offshore);
- Writing the draft Appropriate Assessment (draft AA) (Belgium offshore);
- Writing the waste management plan (Belgium offshore);
- Responsible for stakeholder engagement (Belgium, France);
- Archaeological assessment report (France);
- Environmental notification (France).
Q&E North project: telecommunications cable between Broadstairs, Joss Bay in the UK and Ostend in Belgium ('Q&E North Project'), crosses Nature protection areas in the Belgian Part of the North Sea are (green zones).
Cross section of a fiber optic cable NSW MINISUB DA 192. 
Example cable jetting equipment for shallow water areas.