The UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Greg Clark, has set a new deadline for deciding on the East Anglia THREE application.
On 28 March, the UK Planning Inspectorate issued a report of recommendation on the East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm to the Secretary of State, who had three months to make a decision as of that date. The deadline was originally 28 June, but is now set for 8 August, when Clark will decide on both ScottishPower Renewables’ offshore wind farm and another project.
“The decision to set the new deadline for these applications is without prejudice to the decisions on whether to grant or refuse development consents for them,” the ministerial statement reads.
ScottishPower Renewables submitted the application for an order granting development consent for the 1.2GW East Anglia THREE in November 2015.
The application was accepted for examination the following month and the Planning Inspectorate completed the examination in December 2016.
The offshore wind farm will comprise up to 172 wind turbines installed across an area of 305km² off the coast of Suffolk in the southern North Sea.
It is anticipated that onshore construction could begin in 2021, with offshore work starting in 2022 and first power generation achieved in 2023, subject to the government’s approval.