Vattenfall will submit a planning application for its 1.8GW Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm to the UK Planning Inspectorate in 2018, with hope it will obtain an irrevocable consent in early 2020.
If all processes run as smoothly as expected and a final investment decision is taken, offshore construction can start in the early 2020s, according to Ruari Lean, who manages the project.
Preliminary environmental information are planned to be submitted in November 2017, and the application for development consent by June 2018. “The process of acceptance and examination is likely to take up to 18 months and by then we’ll be close to the end of 2019 or early 2020 when hopefully irrevocable consent has been awarded,” Lean said.
He further said that one of the main challenges for the project team is to ensure the project’s LEC (levelized electricity cost) remains lower than with the competitors’ projects, as the development strategy hinges around low LEC. “Other immediate challenges include making sure we deliver the 2016 programme to set the project up for the planning application submission milestone in June 2018,” Lean added.
The wind farm could feature up to 225 turbines, but the exact number will be decided after the consent is in place.
Next year, Vattenfall will also commence development of the nearby Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm with a capacity of another 1.8GW, for which it aims to get the irrevocable consent by 2021.
The two projects, Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas, have been named after the ships under command of Lord Nelson, a leading figure in British naval history.