Decision on two UK Equinor offshore wind extensions postponed

The UK government has delayed a decision on a planning application made by Equinor for two offshore wind farm extensions by three months.

The Norwegian state-owned firm wants to build an extension to double the size of both the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farms as a joint development.

The extension projects will have a combined generating capacity of 719MW.

Equinor is also proposing a shared point of connection at the National Grid Norwich Main substation.

The two wind farms are located off the Norfolk coast and were completed in 2012 and 2017 respectively.

© Photo: Jan Arne Wold – Woldcam / Equinor

The original deadline for a decision of the plans was set for January 17, three months after the Planning Inspectorate gave recommendations to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to consider.

However, on Tuesday Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho delayed the decision by another three months, announcing a new decision deadline of no later than April 17.

In a statement to the House of Commons, the Secretary said the decision to delay was made to “ensure there is sufficient time for the Department to consider further information and to conduct any necessary consultation”.

The UK spokesperson for Equinor told Energy Voice: ““We have been informed of the Secretary of State’s decision to set a new deadline for the decision for the application for the Sheringham and Dudgeon Extension offshore wind farm projects and we will continue to respond to any requests for information we may receive from the Planning Inspectorate.

“The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has set a new deadline of 17 April 2024 to make their decision and we look forward to a determination at that time.”

Sheringham Shoal currently has an installed capability of 317MW from its 88 wind turbine generators, while Dudgeon’s 67 turbines have an installed capacity of 402MW.

According to Equinor, the extension project will “make an important contribution to the UK’s target of 30GW of electricity generated by offshore wind by 2030”.