Public Notice (North East): Application for Hornsea Project Three Offshore Wind Farm Order. Notification of hearings.

APPLICATION FOR A DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER, THE PROPOSED HORNSEA PROJECT THREE OFFSHORE WIND FARM ORDER (APPLICATION REFERENCE EN010080)

NOTIFICATION OF OPEN FLOOR HEARINGS, ISSUE SPECIFIC HEARINGS AND COMPULSORY ACQUISITION HEARINGS UNDER SECTIONS 91, 92 AND 93 PLANNING ACT 2008 AND RULE 13(6) INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (EXAMINATION PROCEDURE) RULES 2010

Notice is hereby given that the following Hearings will be held by the Examining Authority for the examination of the application made by Orsted Hornsea Project Three (UK) Ltd of 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG (“the Applicant”) for a Development Consent Order under the Planning Act 2008 (the Application).

The Application for Hornsea Project Three Offshore Wind Farm Order was made to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy under sections 14(1)(a) and 15(3) of the Planning Act 2008 on 14 May 2018 and was accepted for examination on 8 June 2018.  Further hearings will be held as indicated below:

Notice of any additional hearings will be publicised as appropriate if required by the Examination.

Summary of the Project

The Application is for development consent to construct, operate and maintain Hornsea Project Three offshore wind farm (Hornsea Three).  Hornsea Three is the third development proposed within the former Hornsea Zone, and it comprises up to 300 offshore wind turbines together with associated offshore and onshore infrastructure and all associated development.

Hornsea Three is located within the former Hornsea Zone, to the east of Hornsea Project One and Hornsea Project Two. It is located 121 km off the Norfolk coast and 160 km off the Yorkshire coast, and covers an area of approximately 696 square kilometres.

Development consent is required to the extent that development is or forms part of a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project pursuant to section 14(1)(a) and 15(3) of the Planning Act 2008. As Hornsea Three is expected to have a capacity of greater than 100MW it is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project for the purposes of the Planning Act 2008. It is for this reason that the project falls within the remit of the Secretary of State.

The electricity generated from Hornsea Three will be transmitted via subsea electricity cables. The Hornsea Three cable corridor extends from the Norfolk coast, offshore in a north-easterly direction to the western and southern boundary of the array area.  From the landfall west of Weybourne on the Norfolk coast, underground onshore cables will connect the offshore wind farm to an onshore high voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station or a high voltage alternating current (HVAC) substation, which in turn, will connect to the existing Norwich Main National Grid substation, located to the south of Norwich.

The mode of transmission will be either HVDC, HVAC or a combination of the two.  Depending on the mode of transmission, a HVAC booster station may be required (onshore and/or offshore).  Should an onshore HVAC booster station be required, this will be in the vicinity of Little Barningham.

The application includes the option to construct Hornsea Three in one or two phases.

The draft Development Consent Order (as submitted with the application) provides for flexibility in relation to the design of the generating stations and their associated development.

The Development Consent Order would authorise the compulsory acquisition of land, interests in land and rights over land, and the powers to use land permanently and temporarily. The Development Consent Order would also authorise alterations to the public highway network, the construction of temporary and permanent accesses, the temporary stopping up or management of the public highway, public rights of way and street works and the application and/or disapplication of legislation.

Environmental Impact Assessment Development

The proposed works are environmental impact assessment development for the purpose of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 and accordingly an Environmental Statement accompanies the application.

Application Form and Accompanying Documents

A copy of the Application form and accompanying plans, maps and other documents may be inspected free of charge until the close of the Examination at the following location and during the hours set out below, excluding any public holiday dates which should be confirmed with the location in question:

Copies of the documents are also available online through the Planning Inspectorate’s website at:

https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/eastern/hornsea-project-three-offshore-wind-farm/

And will be available at each hearing.

Electronic copies can be provided on request by emailing: HornseaProjectThree@orsted.co.uk, by writing to Hornsea Project Three Offshore Wind Farm, c/o Emily Woolfenden Ørsted 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG or by telephone 07881943166.  The documents can be made available in hard copy format on request at a cost of:

• Application documents including Consultation Report, Planning Statement or Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment and supporting Annexes – £350;
• Environmental Statement Report Volumes 1-3 – £600;
• Environmental Statement Annexes – £600; and
• Total cost for all documents – £1,500.