Public Notice: Morgan And Morecambe Offshore Wind Farms

MORGAN AND MORECAMBE OFFSHORE WIND FARMS: TRANSMISSION ASSETS (“THE PROJECT”)

PLANNING ACT 2008 (THE “ACT”) – SECTION 48 ‘DUTY TO PUBLICISE’

INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (APPLICATIONS: PRESCRIBED FORMS AND PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2009 REGULATION 4

INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT) REGULATIONS 2017 – REGULATION 13

NOTICE OF PUBLICISING A PROPOSED APPLICATION FOR A DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER (“DCO”) FOR THE MORGAN AND MORECAMBE OFFSHORE WIND FARMS: TRANSMISSION ASSETS

The Application

Notice is hereby given that Morgan Offshore Wind Limited of Chertsey Road, Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex, and Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Limited of 12 Alva St, Edinburgh (collectively the “Applicants”), are proposing to submit an application to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero under Section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 for development consent (the “Application”) for the Project.

Morgan Offshore Wind Limited is a joint venture between bp Alternative Energy Investments Ltd and Energie Baden- Württemberg AG.

Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Limited is joint venture between Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, S.A. (Cobra) and Flotation Energy Limited.

The Morgan Offshore Wind Project and the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm are two proposed offshore wind farms being developed in the Irish Sea.

The Applicants are collaborating to connect the proposed offshore wind farms to the national grid via the Project. The two offshore wind farms are expected to form a key contribution to the UK’s target of generating 50 gigawatts (GW) of power from offshore wind by 2030. Combined they will generate approximately 2 GW of energy.

In October 2022, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy issued a direction under Section 35 of the Act that the Project should be treated as a development for which development consent is required.

The Application will seek powers for the Applicants to construct, operate and maintain and decommission the Project. It will also cover:

The temporary and permanent compulsory acquisition of land and/or rights which are required for the Project and/or are required to facilitate or are incidental to the Project;
Overriding easements and other rights over or affecting the land for the Project;
The application and or disapplication of legislation relevant to the Projects including legislation relating to compulsory acquisition; and
Such ancillary, incidental and consequential provisions, permits and consents as are necessary and convenient including deemed marine licences.

About the Project

The Project will comprise both permanent and temporary infrastructure for the transmission of electricity from the Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Wind Farms and connection into the existing National Grid substation at Penwortham, Lancashire including, but not limited to:

Offshore infrastructure including offshore export cables, offshore substation platform(s), interconnector cables and a Morgan offshore booster station.
Landfall works (where the offshore cables reach the shore in the vicinity of Blackpool Airport) between Mean Low Water Springs and the transition joint bays including the offshore and onshore cables, intertidal working area and landfall construction compound(s), and temporary and permanent access.
Onshore infrastructure from the transition joint bays to the electricity transmission network connection. This includes onshore export cables to two new substations, temporary construction compounds, temporary and permanent access, and onward connections to the existing National Grid substation at Penwortham, Lancashire.
Areas for biodiversity net gain, enhancement and/or mitigation, including permanent access for operation and maintenance of those areas.

Environmental Impact Assessment

The Applicants have notified the Secretary of State in writing under Regulation 8(1)(b) of The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (the “EIA Regulations”) that they intend to provide an Environmental Statement (ES) in respect of the Project. The Project is an “EIA development” for the purposes of the EIA Regulations and an ES will form part of the Application.

The Project is consulting on its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) development. Information compiled about the Project so far is contained in a Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) and is accompanied by a Non-Technical Summary (NTS) of the PEIR.

Consultation materials

The Applicant has published the following consultation materials to support this consultation (“the consultation materials”):

Statutory Consultation Brochure, which outlines the Project’s proposals, consultation activities and summarises the PEIR;
Statutory Consultation Feedback Form, which provides a structured method for consultees to provide their feedback;

Other consultation information

The Applicant has also published other consultation information including the following:

Preliminary Environmental Impact Report (PEIR), which sets out the current environmental baseline, assesses the potential environmental impacts of and to the project, and proposes mitigations for potential likely significant effects;
PEIR Non-Technical Summary, which summarises key points from the PEIR;
Draft Development Consent Order;
Draft Work Plans, and plans and maps showing the nature and location of the Project;
Statement of Community Consultation (“SoCC”), which sets out how the Applicants will consult local communities during the statutory consultation;
Statutory Consultation Poster, which explains how people can take part in the consultation, attend an event and provide feedback;
Consultation newsletter, a newsletter which summarises key information about the Project:
A copy of the notice published in accordance with section 48 of the PA 2008 and Regulation 13 of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment)

The consultation materials, Preliminary Environmental Information Report and other consultation information can also be accessed via the Consultation Hub on the Project website at: https:// morecambeandmorgan.com/transmission/.

All consultation materials will be available on the Project website from Thursday 12 October until Thursday 23 November. If you would like a paper copy of the consultation materials, or any other document that has been published in connection with the consultation, please let us know, using the contact details given below. In accordance with this notice, costs starting from £0.28p per page may be associated with larger requests to cover printing and postage. Alternatively, if you would like a USB containing the documents, please let us know and we will send one free of charge. For any queries relating to accessing documents, plans and maps please email info@morecambeandmorgan.com or call 0800 915 2493 (option 3).

This notice and its contents form part of the consultation process required by the Act, and we would like your feedback. Your comments are important in helping us refine our proposals. The deadline for submitting responses to the consultation is 23:59 on Thursday 23 November 2023.

Deposit locations

Printed copies of the consultation materials will be available from Thursday 12 October 2023 to Thursday 23 November 2023 in the following locations:

Freckleton Library, Preston Old Road, Freckleton, PR4 1PB
Kirkham Library, Station Road, Kirkham, PR4 2HD
St Annes Library, 254 Clifton Drive South, Lytham St Annes, FY8 1NR
Lytham Library, Dicconson Terrace, Lytham St Annes, FY8 5JY
Ansdell Library, 59 Commonside, Ansdell, Lytham St Annes, FY8 4DJ
Penwortham Town Council and Community Centre, Kingsfold Drive, Penwortham, Preston PR1 9EQ
Henry Bloom Noble Library, 8 Duke Street, Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 2AY

Responding to this notice

A feedback form will be available on the Project website and copies will be available at the consultation events, deposit locations, or can be provided on request from the community relations team, via the contact details below.

Taking part in this consultation

There are several ways to submit feedback:

Giving completed hard copy feedback forms to a Project representative
An interactive map will be available on the Project website: www.morecambeandmorgan.com/ transmission
By email to info@ morecambeandmorgan.com
In writing to FREEPOST MORECAMBE AND MORGAN

(please be advised it is not possible to send registered post to a freepost address)

Any comments and representations received will be reviewed and taken into consideration by the Applicants and any appointed agent of the Applicant. Copies of comments and representations will be made available in due course to the Secretary of State, the Planning Inspectorate, and other relevant statutory authorities as part of a Consultation Report to be submitted with the Application and will therefore be made publicly available.

Please note that all comments and representations must be received by the Applicants by 23:59 on Thursday 23 November 2023.