**4. Methods of Analysis**

In the analysis of impacts carried out in the Environmental Impact Study of the project, still under development, an identification and quantification methodology was used, which is based on the methodology proposed by *Conesa* (1995) [12], in accordance with the requirements included in Annex VI of Law 21/2013, modified by Law 9/2018, regarding the identification, quantification, and assessment of the foreseeable significant effects of the projected activities on the environment.

It is important to differentiate, regarding impacts, those occurring during the construction phase, which has a more limited duration in time, from those occurring during the operational phase, which may be prolonged throughout the service life of the facility. In addition, due to the nature of this project, which extends over both the marine and terrestrial areas, it is necessary to differentiate between the two areas when assessing the environmental factors affected.

In this report, a preview of the assessment of some of the main impacts on the marine environment, related to the conservation of biodiversity and the good environmental status of the area, is made in order to dispel doubts regarding some of the potential impacts that represent a major concern for the authors of the article of Lloret et al. (2022) [11]. It is important to mention that, for each of the potential impacts preliminarily identified by means of a Leopold matrix, each of the following attributes were characterized (Table 1).


**Table 1.** Impact

classification

 table.


time

**Table 1.** *Cont.*

The combination of the valuation of the attributes described above for each analyzed impact was carried out in accordance with the methodology proposed by Conesa (1995) [12], according to the following formula:

$$\text{I} = 3\text{IN} + 2\text{EX} + \text{MO} + \text{PE} + \text{RV} + \text{SI} + \text{AC} + \text{EF} + \text{PR} + \text{MC} \tag{1}$$

results in a standardized and objective characterization of its significance, which may be COMPATIBLE, MODERATE, SEVERE, or CRITICAL impact. In order to properly understand how these impact categories are defined, their definitions are included below:


It is worth noting that the analysis focused on a set of negative impacts, leaving in the background the more positive aspects of the project, mainly related to the contribution to the reduction of GHG emissions, which will indirectly help mitigate the serious deterioration of marine ecosystems associated with climate change.
