Norfolk Vanguard DCO Decision Delayed

The UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has postponed the decision deadline for a Development Consent Order (DCO) related to Vattenfall’s 1.8GW Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind project.

The Secretary of State originally had until 10 December to issue a DCO decision. The statement confirming the new deadline for a decision will be made as soon as possible once Parliament is in session, BEIS said.

BEIS postponed the decision to seek additional information on the project’s impact on birds, marine mammals, environment, impact on local traffic, the appearance of electrical equipment, and several other issues pertaining to noise control, construction hours, etc.

The developer, in consultation with the relevant entities, has until 28 February 2020 to respond to the request for additional information.

Norfolk Vanguard would be located more than 47 kilometres from the Norfolk Coast adjacent to the proposed development area for sister project, the 1.8GW Norfolk Boreas. Each project would feature up to 180 wind turbines with a minimum individual capacity of 10MW.

Vattenfall submitted the DCO application for Norfolk Boreas in June 2019. The developer expects the decision on the application in the summer of 2020.