RWE and its project partners have signed lease agreements with The Crown Estate to develop extensions of the Gwynt y Môr, Galloper, Greater Gabbard and Rampion offshore wind farms in the UK.
Each proposal has already progressed through the plan level Habitats Regulations Assessment stage (HRA), The Crown Estate said.
Developers will now be focused on environmental assessments and surveys, before seeking planning consent through the statutory planning process and securing connections to the grid.
According to RWE, the consenting processes are expected to take three to five years with participation in auctions for a Contract for Difference (CfD) and construction following thereafter. The wind farms could become fully operational towards the end of the decade.
Furthermore, it was decided to seek to develop the remaining seabed option at the original Zone 6 of the existing Rampion wind farm and combine this with the extension project.
“I expect the four offshore wind extension projects to bring significant benefits to the UK energy infrastructure and economy. They present a potential multi-billion pound investment and could grow the local supply chain as well as lead to the creation of hundreds of jobs,” said Tom Glover , RWE Renewables CCO and RWE UK Country Chair.
The Gwynt y Môr extension project, located off the coast of North Wales, is called Awel y Môr and will have a capacity of up to 576 MW.
The Galloper extension called Five Estuaries has a potential capacity of up to 353 MW and the Greater Gabbard extension, renamed North Falls, has an agreement for up to 504 MW.
The Rampion 2 development project has a potential capacity of up to 1,200 MW and is located off the coast of Sussex in the English Channel.
These four project AfLs come in addition to the previously announced lease agreements for the proposed extensions to Thanet, Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farms.