Hornsea Three DCO Decision Delayed Again

The UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has postponed the statutory deadline for the Hornsea Project Three development consent order (DCO) application to 1 July.

As reported, the DCO decision was supposed to be announced on 1 June for the Hornsea Project Three, Norfolk Vanguard, and Thanet Extension offshore wind farms.

The Government has now also postponed the statutory deadline for the decision on planning consent for Vattenfall’s 1.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard project.

RenewableUK has expressed its disappointment regarding the announcement.

“Any delay in the decision-making process is disappointing. We want to work with Government to achieve their ambition of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030 and the UK’s wider net zero target,” said RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Hugh McNeal.

“Major projects like these are vital to generate clean power on the scale we need to decarbonise our economy. We need the Government to take decisions in a timely manner so that offshore wind can play a leading role in getting our economy back on track after the Coronavirus crisis.”

Ørsted is proposing to install up to 300 turbines at the 2.4 GW Hornsea Project Three wind farm located more than 120 kilometers off the north Norfolk coast.