Development Consent awarded for Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm
Today, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy awarded development consent for Vattenfall's application to build Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm.
Commenting on the decision by the Planning Inspectorate to award planning consent for Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm, Gunnar Groebler, Senior Vice President for Vattenfall’s wind business, said:
“We’re delighted to receive planning consent for Norfolk Vanguard. This decision justifies the confidence that we have in the offshore wind sector in Britain, and we’re looking forward to developing the project and benefiting the local community.
“Vattenfall’s purpose is to power climate smarter living. Decarbonising our economies starts with one of the most essential resources – electricity. Today’s news sends a strong signal that the UK is serious about its climate ambitions and is open for business to power a green economic recovery.”
Gunnar Groebler, Senior Vice President for Vattenfall’s wind business
Danielle Lane, Country Manager and Head of Offshore Wind for Vattenfall in the UK, said:
“This is a great step forward in the battle against climate change, to increase jobs and skills in the East of England, and for the offshore wind industry as a whole.
“The Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm will generate 1.8 gigawatts of clean electricity when built. That’s enough to power almost two million homes each year while saving over three million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions – the same as taking approximately 1.6 million cars off the road.
“Today is also great news for people living locally, who we’ve been working with over the last four years to develop this project. They can look forward to a multi-billion pound economic boost, bringing with it hundreds of new long-term jobs, driving forward a green revolution and helping to level up UK opportunities.
“It’s vital that other shovel-ready renewable and low-carbon projects are also given the go-ahead as soon as possible. Delays of even just a month or so can set back big infrastructure developments by years in some cases. The UK has to go much further, much faster, if it’s going to reach its net-zero targets.”
Danielle Lane, UK Country Manager for Vattenfall
Key facts about Norfolk Vanguard
| First power expected | Mid 2020s |
| Installed capacity | 1.8GW |
| Homes powered equivalent per annum | 1.95 million* |
| Amount of C02 saved | 3 million tonnes* |
| Equivalent cars removed | 1.6 million |
| Geographical scale of offshore site area | 592.069km2 |
| Distance of the nearest turbine from the shore | 47km |
| Landfall location | Happisburgh, Norfolk |
| Length of cabling onshore | 60km |
| Number of turbines | Between 90 and 180 |
| Height of turbines to tip | Up to 350m |
| Individual turbine capacity | Confirmed when a turbine supplier is selected |
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Comparison to other large infrastructure |
Hinkley Point C will be up to 2.4GW and Sizewell B is 1.198GW |
*Source: https://www.renewableuk.com/page/UKWEDExplained
See also
Wind turbine turned into compact living
Vattenfall and design studio Superuse converted a nacelle, the top part of a wind turbine, into a tiny house.
Vattenfall expands offshore maintenance capacity with Van Oord contract for turbine servicing
Vattenfall is set to increase its offshore turbine servicing capabilities by signing a multi-year framework contract with Van Oord for the charter of the jack-up vessel, MPI Resolution.
Climate change – can we overcome the bad news problem?
An interactive event hosted in Brussels on 24 September will shine a light on attitudes towards news reporting and stakeholder communication about climate change.