The Offshore Combustion Installations (Pollution Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Regulations 2018

Amendment of regulation 2 (interpretation)

3.  In regulation 2(1)—

(a) insert the following definitions in the appropriate places—

““the MCPD” means Directive 2015/2193/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from medium combustion plants(1);”;

““Annex 1” means Annex I of the MCPD;”;

““Annex 2” means Annex II of the MCPD;”;

““Annex 3” means Annex III of the MCPD;”;

““combustion plant” means any technical apparatus in which fuels are oxidised in order to use the heat generated;”;

““diesel engine” means an internal combustion engine which operates according to the Diesel cycle and uses compression ignition to burn fuel;”;

““dust” means particles, of any shape, structure or density, dispersed in the gas phase at the sampling point which may be collected by filtration after representative sampling of the gas to be analysed, and which remain on the filter after drying;”;

““existing medium combustion plant” means a medium combustion plant—

(a)

put into operation before 20 December 2018; or

(b)

for which a permit was granted before 19 December 2017, provided that the plant is put into operation no later than 20 December 2018;”;

““gas engine” means an internal combustion engine which operates according to the Otto cycle and which uses spark ignition to burn fuel;”;

““gas turbine” means any rotating machine which converts thermal energy into mechanical work, consisting mainly of a compressor (a thermal device in which fuel is oxidised in order to heat the working fluid) and a turbine (including both open cycle and combined cycle gas turbines, and gas turbines in cogeneration mode, all with or without supplementary firing);”;

““large combustion installation” means—

(a)

a relevant platform; or

(b)

a complex of relevant platforms permanently inter-connected by bridges,

equipped with an offshore combustion plant which on its own or aggregated together with any other combustion plant on the same platform or complex has a rated thermal input which is equal to or greater than 50 megawatts;;”;

““large combustion plant” means an offshore combustion plant with a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 50 megawatts, but does not include gas turbines and gas engines;”;

““medium combustion installation” means—

(a)

a relevant platform; or

(b)

a complex of relevant platforms permanently inter-connected by bridges,

which is not a large combustion installation and which is equipped with an offshore combustion plant that has a rated thermal input which is equal to or greater than 1 megawatt and less than 50 megawatts;;”;

““medium combustion plant” means, subject to regulation 2A, an offshore combustion plant with a rated thermal input which is equal to or greater than 1 megawatt and less than 50 megawatts, but does not include—

(a)

gas turbines, gas engines and diesel engines; or

(b)

combustion plant in which gaseous products of combustion are used for the direct heating, drying or any other treatment of objects or materials;”;

““new medium combustion plant” means a medium combustion plant other than an existing medium combustion plant;”;

““NOx” means nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide;”;

““offshore combustion plant” means a combustion plant which is permanently installed on a relevant platform or complex of relevant platforms permanently inter-connected by bridges;”;

““operating hours” means the time, expressed in hours, during which a medium combustion plant is operating and discharging emissions into the air, excluding start-up and shut-down periods;”;

““relevant date” means—

(a)

20th December 2018, in relation to an offshore combustion installation equipped with new medium combustion plant;

(b)

1st January 2024, in relation to an offshore combustion installation equipped with an existing medium combustion plant with a rated thermal input greater than 5 megawatts;

(c)

1st January 2029, in relation to an offshore combustion installation equipped with an existing medium combustion plant with a rated thermal input of not more than 5 megawatts;”;

““secondary abatement” has the same meaning as it has in Article 7(4) of the MCPD;”;

(b) omit the definition of “medium”;

(c) for the definition of “combustion installation” substitute—

““combustion installation” means a relevant platform, or a complex of relevant platforms permanently inter-connected by bridges, equipped with offshore combustion plant;”;

(d) for the definition of “EIA Directive” substitute—

““EIA Directive” means Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(2), as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(3);”;

(e) for the definition of “emission” substitute—

““emission” means—

(a)

in relation to a large combustion installation, the direct or indirect release of a pollutant listed in Schedule 2 from individual or diffuse sources in the installation into the air or water;

(b)

in relation to a medium combustion plant, the discharge of substances from a medium combustion plant into the air;”;

(f) for the definition of “emission limit value” substitute—

““emission limit value” means—

(a)

in relation to a large combustion installation, the mass, concentration or level of an emission, which may not be exceeded during one or more periods of time;

(b)

in relation to a medium combustion plant, the permissible quantity of a substance contained in the waste gases from the combustion plant which may be discharged into the air during a given period;”;

(g) in the definition of “gas storage or unloading platform”, after “fixed or floating structure” insert “situated in the relevant gas area”;

(h) for the definition of “offshore combustion installation” substitute—

““offshore combustion installation” means a medium combustion installation or a large combustion installation;”;

(i) in the definition of “petroleum platform” after “fixed or floating structure” insert “situated in the offshore area and”.

(1)

OJ No L 313, 28.11.2015, p. 1–19.

(2)

OJ No L 26, 28.1.2012, p.1.

(3)

OJ No L 124, 25.4.2014, p.1. See Article 4(3) of Directive 2011/92/EU as substituted by Article 1(4)(a) of Directive 2014/52/EU.