Currently, the project is in development and the project team is considering the project design and infrastructure both onshore and offshore.
Electricity generated by the Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm will be brought onshore via subsea cables and reach the coastline at a point known as the landfall. The cables will then be laid underground along a cable route to an onshore substation close to the grid connection point. We have accepted a connection offer from National Grid for a new substation referred to as the proposed East Anglia GREEN substation.
Similar to its sister project Galloper the wind farm will be in two areas of seabed and will be 37km at its nearest point to shore from the coast of Suffolk.
As part of the survey work, we liaised with different stakeholders. In relation to the offshore surveys, which are now completed, we engaged with local fishermen and held Commercial Fisheries Working Groups. For the onshore surveys, we have been liaising with landowners in relation to surveying land and statutory consultees.
As the Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm will generate over 100 megawatts (MW) of power, it is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), which means that it will need a Development Consent Order under the Planning Act 2008 before it can be built.
Applications for development consent are examined by a government organisation called the Planning Inspectorate. Following examination, the Planning Inspectorate will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, who will make the final decision.
Five Estuaries is now in the first stage, ‘pre-application’. This will continue until an application for development consent is submitted to (and accepted by) the Planning Inspectorate, which is anticipated to be in late 2023.
During this stage, you can register as an interested party by making a Relevant Representation, which is a written summary of your views on the application. Inspectors will hold a preliminary meeting, to which interested parties are invited. Also during this stage, Inspectors are selected and the timetable for examination is set out.
North Falls Offshore Wind Farm is the proposed extension to the operational Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm.
Five Estuaries and North Falls are both in the development stage and we are working closely with the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm project. The primary goal of this coordination is to reduce the potential impact of building the onshore connection to the national electricity transmission network for the two projects.
You can find out more about the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm at www.northfallsoffshore.com
