Public Notice: Dogger Bank South Offshore Wind Farms Project

REGULATIONS 8 AND 9 OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (APPLICATIONS: PRESCRIBED FORMS AND PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2009

REGULATION 16 OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT) REGULATIONS 2017

Notice is hereby given that the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has accepted an application (“the Application”) by RWE Renewables UK Dogger Bank South (West) Limited and RWE Renewables UK Dogger Bank South (East) Limited (“the Applicants”) (registered office at Windmill Hill Business Park, Whitehill Way, Swindon, SN5 6PB) for a Development Consent Order under the Planning Act 2008 (“the Act”). The Application (reference number: EN010125) was submitted by the Applicants to the Secretary of State c/o the Planning Inspectorate on 12 June 2024.

Summary of the Project

The Application is for development consent to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission two offshore wind farms known as Dogger Bank South East (“DBS East”) and Dogger Bank South West (“DBS West”), both located in the North Sea on the Dogger Bank (together referred to as “the Projects”) and the associated development to connect the proposed offshore wind farms to the national grid.

The Projects would have a combined maximum number of 200 turbines. The offshore array areas for DBS West and DBS East are situated at a minimum of 100km and 122km from shore respectively. The proposed onshore works consist of installation of buried onshore export cables, from a landfall on the East Riding of Yorkshire coastline near Skipsea to (up to) two newly constructed onshore converter stations near the hamlet of Bentley, before onward onshore cable routeing to the proposed Birkhill Wood National Grid substation close to the existing Creyke Beck substation.

Maps showing the onshore and offshore locations of the wind farms and associated infrastructure form part of the Application (document references 2.2 for the onshore location plan and 2.1 for the offshore location plan), which can be viewed on the Planning Inspectorate’s website under the documents tab:

https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010125/documents

As the proposed wind farms will have a generating capacity in excess of 100MW, they are classified as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) pursuant to sections 14(1)(a) and 15(3) of the Act. Development consent is therefore required for the Projects. The Development Consent Order would, if granted, 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 construction and permanent access routes, the temporary stopping up and / 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 Projects are Environmental Impact Assessment developments for the purposes of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017. An Environmental Statement has therefore been submitted as part of the Application (Volume 7).

Copies of Application documents

The Application form and the accompanying documents, plans and maps, including the Environmental Statement can be viewed and downloaded free of charge on the Projects’ page of the Planning Inspectorate’s website under the ‘Documents’ tab:

https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010125/documents

The documents will be available online throughout the pre-examination and examination process.

Hardcopies of the Non-Technical Summary of the Environmental Statement (document reference 7.0) and a Guide to the Application (document reference 1.4 ) along with electronic copies of the application documents (which can be inspected on computers accessible to the public) will be available at the following libraries from 16 July to 6 September 2024.