Progress on the 1.8GW Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm

Vattenfall, the Swedish power company that develops the 1.8GW giant offshore wind project announced the details of the progress being made in the mega-project, aimed to power more than 1.3 million UK households.

The Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm was first announced in March 2016, when the company revealed its plans to develop two 1.8GW each offshore wind farms within the northern half of the East Anglia Offshore Wind Farm development zone; the Norfolk Vanguard and the Norfolk Boreas, located 47 kilometers off the Norfolk Coast.

Through a press release last week, the company announced that it launched its official autumn consultation on the anticipated environmental impact assessment and that it also initiated a consultation process with around 30,000 Norfolk households.

The statutory consultation will run from 7 November until 11 December 2017.

Vattenfall confirmed that no house will be affected from the 60-kilometre export cable, as it will not run under any of the existing houses.   

The Norfolk Vanguard alone is expected to generate electricity equivalent of the demand of 1.3 million UK households, 5 percent of total UK homes.

So far, Vattenfall predicts that the project will comprise between 90 and 257 wind turbines with a generation capacity between 7MW and 20MW each and up to 350 meters tall.

The project is expected to be developed in two sites, as showed in the map below. 

                                                                           Source Vattenfall

The electricity generated will be transferred to the national grid through the existing Necton 400kV, which will be extended to fit the project’s needs.

Ruari Lean, Vattenfall’s Norfolk Vanguard Project Manager said: “What we are setting out in detail in our statement of community consultation is our engagement plan to discuss and get feedback on what is called Preliminary Environmental Information (PEI)”.

“The PEI report sets out our latest layout of the offshore and onshore parts of the project, what we think will be the impacts and how we will go about minimising them”.

Mr. Lean invited everyone who is interested to share his thoughts on the configuration of the project.

“We have already received a high volume of detailed feedback on residents’ concerns but also how people think Norfolk can benefit from what will be a significant inward investment in the region”.

“The quality of feedback so far has been excellent and we thank those that have taken the time to engage in this process for nationally significant infrastructure projects”.

According to the company’s statement, Norfork Boreas is in an earlier phase of development, with its environmental impact assessment still ongoing.

Local residents and interested parties can get involved here. 

You can learn more about the Norfork Vanguard Offshore Wind Project here.