Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm has been granted development consent. The 1800MW wind farm will see up to 158 turbines installed off the Norfolk coast.
BEIS secretary of state Kwasi Kwarteng granted planning permission although the examining authority, National Infrastructure Planning, had recommended it be refused.
Kwarteng had delayed a decision on the application to allow for consideration of the cumulative onshore impacts of it and a neighbouring wind farm, Norfolk Vanguard, to be considered. That referred to both permanent structures such as substations and short term effects such as heavy construction traffic.
In 18 February this year, the High Court of Justice quashed the development consent order for the 200-turbine Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm, saying that a decision on development consent for the first of two projects “closely related in time and in close geographical proximity” could not be made without consideration of the cumulative impacts. Both projects are being developed by Vattenfall.
As Norfolk Boreas is now the first of these two projects to be decided, the Secretary of State delayed the deadline on development consent to 10 December and carried out consultations both jointly and individually on the two projects with regard to the combined impact.
Among the issues that arose during the consultation was that not all Interested Parties had appreciated the implications of using HVDC technology on the substation dimensions, with parties comparing the likely size to Wembley Stadium.
Other concerns were expressed by the RSPB, which said the wind farm area was important for local bird life. In response Vattenfall promised to use higher turbines that it said would have less impact on bird routes.