South Stream Offshore Pipeline – Turkish Sector

Scoping Report

Non-Technical Summary

 

URS-EIA-REP-201280

DocID: URS-EIA-REP-201280

External DocID: 46369085_Doc021_REP_Rev06

Date of Issue: 17 July 2013

This report has been prepared by URS Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited on behalf of South Stream Transport B.V.

 

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South Stream Offshore Pipeline Summary

Introduction

The South Stream Offshore Pipeline is the offshore component of the South Stream Pipeline System that will deliver natural gas from Russia to the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. When complete, the pipeline system will extend over more than 2,300 kilometres (km).

The South Stream Offshore Pipeline will comprise four parallel 32 inch (813 millimetres (mm)) diameter pipelines extending approximately 930 km across the Black Sea from the Russian coast near Anapa, through the Turkish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), to the Bulgarian coast near Varna (Figure 1). In addition to the offshore pipelines, the South Stream Offshore Pipeline will also consist of short onshore parts, known as landfall sections, in Russia and Bulgaria, with landfall facilities.

Figure 1: South Stream Offshore Pipeline

The Turkish part of the South Stream Offshore Pipeline is known as the ‘South Stream Offshore Pipeline – Turkish Sector’ and is referred to throughout this document as ‘the Project’.

The Project is approximately 470 km in length and runs through the Black Sea from the border between the Russian and Turkish EEZs in the east to the border between the Turkish and

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Bulgarian EEZs in the west (Figure 2). Within the Turkish EEZ the pipelines will be laid directly on the seabed at a depth ranging between approximately 2,000 metres (m) and 2,200 m.

South Stream Transport B.V. is a joint venture company, and is responsible for developing the Project. The Russian company OAO Gazprom holds a 50% stake. The Italian company Eni S.p.A has a 20% stake. The French energy company Électricité de France (EDF) and German company Wintershall Holding GmbH (BASF Group) each hold 15%.

Engineering and design studies for the Project began in 2008. This included the evaluation of several options for the transport of gas from Russia before selecting the current pipeline route. The choice of route for the Project was based on technical and environmental factors. These factors led to the selection of the current route (Figure 2) through the Turkish EEZ.

Figure 2: South Stream Offshore Pipeline – Turkish Sector

Construction of the overall South Stream Offshore Pipeline is scheduled to start in 2014 and run until 2017. Construction within the Turkish EEZ is currently scheduled to commence in 2014. The construction of the first pipeline will be completed prior to the other three pipelines and gas flow through the first pipeline is planned to be performed as early as 2015. In order to reach the total capacity by 2017, construction of the second and third pipelines may be performed in parallel by two pipe-lay vessels.

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Accordingly, the second and third pipelines are planned to be in to operation in late 2016 and early 2017 respectively and the fourth pipeline by late 2017. The pipelines will be designed to deliver gas for at least 50 years. The maximum capacity of all four pipelines together will be 63 billion cubic metres (bcm)/year, or approximately 15 bcm/year per line. The pipelines will each have a design pressure of 300 bar.

Purpose of the Scoping Report

South Stream Transport B.V. is committed to implementing Good International Industry Practice (GIIP) in environmental and social performance. The Project will be planned, constructed and operated in compliance with the laws of the Republic of Turkey, which require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for projects of this type. In addition to meeting national EIA requirements, South Stream Transport B.V. will follow the standards and guidelines of financing institutions for Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA).

The international guidelines relevant to ESIA include a scoping stage to help identify potentially significant environmental, socio-economic and cultural heritage impacts related to the Project. The aim of this Scoping Report is to provide information on the Project and its potential impacts to stakeholders, who can then provide input into the ESIA process and, where appropriate, the Project design. It is important to note that the information provided in this Scoping Report is preliminary.

In addition to the Scoping Report, an EIA Application File (EIAAF) for the Project has been prepared in compliance with the Turkish Environmental Law No. 2872 dated 9 August 1983 and the Turkish EIA By-law, published in the Official Gazette No. 26939 dated 17 July 2008. The EIAAF was submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation on 22 May 2013.

Project Description

The pipelines will be constructed from 12 m sections of steel pipe that will be welded together and coated inside, to improve internal cleanliness and gas flow and outside to protect the pipelines from corrosion. The pipelines will be further protected against corrosion by a cathodic protection system. The pipes will have a wall thickness of 39 mm.

The four pipelines will be installed using a pipe-laying vessel (a specialised ship or barge for underwater pipeline construction, an example of which is shown in Figure 3). Pipes are lined up and welded together on board the vessel, and welded sections are lowered into the sea as new segments are added.

Terms to Know:

Temporary Project Area:

the area on the seabed within which construction activities will take place and the pipelines will be laid. This area is 470 km in length x 2 km wide which results in a total area of 940 km2. This area is also referred to throughout this document as the ‘Construction Corridor’.

Permanent Project

Area: the permanent footprint of the Project on the seabed will be 470 km in length x 4 m wide (based on the width of the four pipelines each of which is less than 1 m wide) which results in a total area of approximately 2 km2. The Permanent Project Area on the seabed will be located within the Temporary Project Area.

Exclusive Economic

Zone (EEZ): a seazone for which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical miles from its coast (or to a neighbouring EEZ).

Pipe-laying Vessel: a specialised ship or barge for underwater pipeline construction.

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Temporary storage facilities, such as marshalling yards and shore bases, will be needed for the construction process in Russia and Bulgaria. Under current Project planning there will not be any such facilities located in Turkey.

Once each pipeline has been built, it will be tested to ensure that it is safe, intact and fit to operate. This process is called pre-commissioning and will include hydrotesting (testing the pipeline with water) of the shallow water sections of the pipeline in Russia and Bulgaria. Due to the stringent design codes to which the pipelines will be constructed, hydrotesting of the deep water sections of the pipelines, including the pipelines within the Turkish EEZ, will not be needed. Turkish waters will therefore not be impacted by any pre-commissioning activities as these activities will be undertaken within Russian and Bulgarian waters. Pipelines in the Turkish EEZ will be cleaned, gauged and dried to check pipeline integrity.

The pipelines will operate in compliance with internationally recognised standards and in line with national regulatory requirements of the Republic of Turkey. A maintenance programme will be implemented. In addition, it will be regularly monitored from a central control room by means of continuously measuring the pressure and the flow rates. The control room will not be located in Turkey and its location is yet to be confirmed. In the unlikely event of damage to any of the pipelines, or if a leak is detected, emergency procedures will be implemented. These procedures include emergency shutdown followed by an inspection of the pipeline.

Figure 3: Example of Pipe-laying Vessel

Image supplied courtesy of Saipem

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At the end of its operational life, i.e. after an expected 50 years, the offshore pipeline will be decommissioned (shut down). Decommissioning of the pipeline will be undertaken in accordance with national legislation applicable at that time and GIIP, in liaison with the regulatory authorities.

Environmental and Social Baseline

It is important to understand the environmental, social and cultural heritage conditions and characteristics, referred to as the baseline, of the area where the Project will be built and operated, This allows the changes in the baseline which are a consequence of the Project – the impacts can be identified, assessed and mitigated or managed. A number of baseline studies were carried out as part of the feasibility studies for the Project between 2008 and 2011.

The Black Sea is a semi-enclosed sea in which the flat abyssal plain (at a depth of approximately 2,000 m) rises to the continental shelves adjacent to the surrounding coasts. The Black Sea is connected to the shallow (10 to 20 m deep) Azov Sea through the Kerch Strait and to the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosphorus Strait, the Marmara Sea and the Dardanelles Strait.

Mud volcanoes are found at the bottom of the Black Sea and are formed from gases and muds seeping out of the seabed. The routing of the pipeline has been selected to avoid such geological features. The Black Sea is considered to have a low to moderate seismic potential. The seabed within the Construction Corridor (Temporary Project Area) is predominately flat varying from 2,021 and 2,199 m water depth. Up to 90% of the sediments consist of fine clay sediments.

In deep waters the marine environment is dominated by anoxic conditions, associated with poor mixing, elevated hydrogen sulphide (H2S) concentrations and the presence of strong saline stratification.

Two species of marine mammals observed in offshore surveys are listed in both the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and Red Data Book of the Black Sea: the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

Given the low oxygen and high hydrogen sulphide concentrations below approximately 150 m, benthic biological communities and deep sea fish species are unlikely to occur in the Construction Corridor. Fish species likely to be present in the Turkish EEZ include sprat (Sprattus sprattus), Black Sea garfish (Belone belone euxini), anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus ponticus), Black Sea pelagic pipefish (Syngnathus schmidti), various mullet species (Liza aurata, Liza saliens, Mugil cephalus and Mugil souiy), bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), Black Sea horse mackerel (Trachurus

Terms to Know:

Cathodic Protection

System: a method of neutralising the corrosive static electric charges in a submerged steel structure.

Baseline: the existing environmental, socio-economic and cultural heritage characteristics of the area (i.e. before the Project). The baseline provides a starting point for the prediction of potential impacts.

Mitigation measures: activities designed to avoid or minimise potential adverse impacts of the Project on the baseline characteristics.

Enhancement measures: activities designed to enhance potential benefits of the Project.

Environmental and Social

Management Plan: will be prepared for the Project, which will bring together the mitigation, enhancement and management measures that address the potential impacts of the Project.

Stakeholder

engagement: Stakeholders are people or groups who may be affected by the Project, or who have an interest in it. Stakeholder engagement includes consultation and dialogue about the ESIA process and content, including project design, expected impacts, and measures taken to mitigate and manage impacts.

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mediterraneus ponticus) and Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda). Of these species, the Black Sea garfish and Atlantic bonito are listed on the Red Data Book of the Black Sea.

A number of migratory bird species overwinter, nest and roost in coastal locations around the Black Sea. The most common species found in surveys conducted for the Project in 2011 is the little gull (Larus minutus). Three species observed during these surveys are listed in the Red Data Book of the Black Sea; great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and saker falcon (Falco cherrug).

There are a number of commercial shipping routes that cross the Construction Corridor. The Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has a number of areas of petroleum exploration blocks in the Turkish EEZ. Due to the anoxic conditions and absence of deep sea fish species it is unlikely that the Construction Corridor is utilised by fishing vessels.

Surveys performed to date have identified two objects of potential cultural heritage interest within Construction Corridor and determined that these are wooden ships.

Project Impacts

The preliminary assessment of impacts has been based on information currently available and concludes that impacts during the Construction and Pre-Commissioning Phase of the Project will be temporary and localised. Temporary impacts will include air emissions, noise and vibrations from construction vessels and disturbance of sediments as the pipes are laid on the seabed. Impacts to submerged cultural heritage objects as a result of construction activities will be avoided or minimised through the routing of the pipelines within the Construction Corridor. In general, disturbance to other marine users (e.g. through navigational hazards) and the use of the Construction Corridor for fishing activity is likely to be minimal. The significance of the any impacts will be assessed as part of the EIA and ESIA process.

Operational Phase impacts are expected to be minimal. Resource use during operations is expected to be limited to materials for repairs, water and fuel for vessels and machinery, some of which may be sourced from Turkey.

After further studies and consultation, the likely impacts of the Project will be assessed in more detail. South Stream Transport B.V. will identify mitigation measures to be implemented to avoid or minimise construction and operational impacts. Impact assessment and mitigation details will be provided in the EIA and ESIA documentation. The EIA and ESIA schedules are shown in Table 1 and 2.

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Table 1: EIA Schedule

Activity Period

Submission of the EIA Application File 22 May 2013

EIA Public Participation Meeting 2 July 2013

EIA Scope and Special Format Determination Meeting 4 July 2013

Submission of Draft EIA Report to Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation

Fourth Quarter 2013

Table 2: ESIA Schedule

Activity Period

Scoping Report Disclosure July 2013

Draft ESIA Consultation Period Fourth Quarter 2013 to First Quarter 2014

Final ESIA Report Disclosure First Quarter 2014

Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholders are people or groups who may be affected by the Project, or who have an interest in it. Stakeholder engagement includes consultation and dialogue about the ESIA process and content, including project design, expected impacts, and measures taken to mitigate and manage impacts. Stakeholder engagement includes the ESIA Scoping consultation process, the key objectives of which are to:

• Determine the scope and content of the ESIA study; and

• Ensure that stakeholder priorities, views and concerns regarding the Project are understood and considered.

This Scoping Report will be made publicly available for review in July-August 2013 for a period of 30 days. During this time, stakeholders will have the opportunity to review and comment on the Report. The Report is available on the South Stream Transport B.V. website (see below). During this period, South Stream Transport B.V. will also be holding meetings with a range of stakeholders (see Table 3).

As part of the EIA process, a Public Participation meeting was held in Sinop on 2 July 2013. Authorities and organisations invited by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation (MoEU) attended the meeting, whilst other stakeholders and the general public were given an opportunity to participate.

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Table 3: ESIA Scoping Consultation Activities

Meeting Type Stakeholder Group Date Location

Roundtable Meeting National NGOs 30 July 2013 Istanbul

Roundtable Meeting National NGOs, National Fisheries Cooperative and Fisheries-Related Associations

31 July 2013 Ankara

Roundtable Meeting Fisheries 1 August 2013 Trabzon

Roundtable Meeting Marine Research Institute 1 August 2013 Trabzon

Stakeholders are invited to submit their comments on this Scoping Report in writing. A comment form is included at the end of this document (Appendix D). Comments may be submitted by hand at consultation meetings or by post or email to:

ELC Group

Kavacık Mah. Şehit Mustafa Yazıcı Sok.

No:20 Kavacikv

Istanbul

Turkey

South Stream Transport B.V.

Parnassusweg 809,

1082 LZ Amsterdam,

The Netherlands

esia@south-stream-transport.com

www.south-stream-offshore.com

 

Contact

South Stream Transport B.V.

Head Office

Parnassusweg 809

1082 LZ Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Phone: +31 20 262 4500

Fax: +31 20 524 1237

E-mail: contact@south-stream-transport.com