Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the existing evidence base for deflagration as an alternative to the high-order detonation method mandated by existing Marine Management Organisation licensing for ordnance clearance ahead of the construction of offshore wind farms.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has not undertaken a formal assessment of the evidence base for deflagration. The Marine Management Organisation sits on the steering group for a research project on deflagration commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and Defra receives regular updates on progress.
A recent project report is available on the UK Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment pages of the gov.uk website.