Abstract
This Environmental Appraisal is submitted in support of a planning application (the Application) made by Doggerbank Offshore Wind Farm Project 3 Projco Limited (the Projco) and Sofia Offshore Wind Farm Limited (SOWFL) (the Applicants), for consent pursuant to Section 62 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended.
The Application includes five areas of alternative and additional infrastructure to the consented 9 kilometres (km) buried onshore grid connection, spanning from the landfall for Dogger Bank Wind Farm C (DB-C) and Sofia Offshore Wind Farm (Sofia) to the National Grid at Lackenby Substation (the Works). Figures 1.2 (a - c) show the location of the Works and the consented 2015 DCO.
A Development Consent Order (2015 DCO) was granted for Dogger Bank Wind Farm C (previously known as Dogger Bank Teesside A Offshore Wind Farm) and Sofia Offshore Wind Farm (previously known as Dogger Bank Teesside B Offshore Wind Farm) (the Applicants’ Projects), including the onshore transmission works required to export electricity to the grid in August 2015. Combined, these Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) will provide approximately 2.6 Gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity (Sofia at 1.4 GW and DB-C in the process of removing 1.2 GW capacity cap to maximise energy production). The Applicants’ Projects will offer significant economic opportunities for the UK with potential supply chain benefits, infrastructure and associated jobs and contracts.
The onshore works of the Applicants Projects’ are consented developments with certain compulsory acquisition powers by virtue of the 2015 DCO. For the purposes of this Application, the 2015 DCO forms part of the baseline for the assessment undertaken within this Appraisal.