More Setbacks for Vattenfall’s Norfolk Wind Farm

The UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Kwasi Kwarteng will be setting a new deadline for a Development Consent Order (DCO) decision on Vattenfall’s 1.8 GW Norfolk Boreas offshore wind project.

A statement confirming the new deadline for a decision will be made in due course, the Planning Inspectorate said.

The deadline for the DCO decision on Norfolk Boreas has already been extended before and the final consenting order was expected this month.

The delay comes less than two months after the UK High Court quashed the decision of the UK Secretary of State to grant the application for development consent for Vattenfall’s second project off Norfolk, the 1.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard.

The Judicial Review for the project cited cumulative impacts of Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas on Necton, where the onshore infrastructure for the wind farms would be built.

Norfolk Vanguard would be located more than 47 kilometres from the Norfolk Coast adjacent to the proposed development area for the Norfolk Boreas which is located approximately 72 kilometres from shore at its nearest point.

Each project would feature between 90 and 180 wind turbines with a minimum individual capacity of 10 MW.

The wind farms are scheduled to be operational by mid-2020s.