2.4 GW Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm Cleared for Development

The UK Government has finally approved the application and given development consent for the 2.4 GW Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm

The UK Government has announced that it has given development consent for Ørsted’s Hornsea Project Three (3) offshore wind farm. The project which offers an approximate capacity of up to 2400 MW (2.4 GW) will be located off the coast of Norfolk. This is within the area known as Zone 4, under the Round 3 offshore wind licensing arrangements established by The Crown Estate.

The application for the project was submitted for consideration on 14 May 2018 and accepted for examination on 8 June 2018. It is the 98th project to be decided under the Planning Act 2008 regime and is the 61st energy project examined by the Planning Inspectorate to gain development consent.

Following a six-month examination during which the public, statutory consultees and interested parties were given the opportunity to give evidence to the Examining Authority, a recommendation was made to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on 2 July 2019. Following a request for further information and comments from interested parties, the Secretary BEIS had issued a letter stating that he was minded to approve this application subject to further information from the applicant and Interested Parties on a number of specific issues. 

To allow time for the Applicant to submit further information by September 30, 2020, and to allow for consultation on the further information with Interested Parties, the Secretary of State set a new deadline of December 31, 2020, for his decision on this application.

The Planning Inspectorate’s Chief Executive, Sarah Richards, said “when examining the application and making their Recommendation, the Examining Authority took full account of views from communities, particularly those near the North East coast of England who might be affected by this proposal, alongside national policy and evidence of the need for the project.”

In January 2020, Ørsted commissioned the 1.2 GW Hornsea One, which then became the world’s largest operational offshore wind farm. Offshore construction on the 1.4 GW Hornsea Two started in October and is scheduled to be completed by 2022.