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The UK’s Planning Inspectorate has concluded its six-month Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) examination period for the Dogger Bank South (DBS) offshore wind farms, being developed by RWE and Abu Dhabi’s Masdar.
Since the start of the examination this January, the Planning Inspectorate has assessed the environmental, socio-economic, and technical attributes of the DBS projects against the UK’s standards for sustainable infrastructure development.
The Inspectorate plans to prepare and submit a detailed report with recommendations to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero within the next three months, and a consent decision is expected within the next six months.
“We are delighted to have reached this milestone for the DBS projects, the most powerful offshore wind farms currently progressing through the NSIP planning process,” said Danielle Lane , Director of Offshore Wind Development UK & Ireland, RWE.
“Beyond delivering clean electricity to millions of homes, these projects have the potential to provide a significant economic boost, particularly to the north-east of England, supporting thousands of jobs during development and construction.”
With an estimated combined installed capacity of 3 GW, the Dogger Bank South wind farms are planned to be built over 100 kilometres off the northeastern coast of England. RWE leads both DBS projects, overseeing development, construction, and operations on behalf of the joint venture partnership.
DBS is split across two sites, DBS East and DBS West, each with a capacity of 1.5 GW and spanning 500 square kilometres.
In May, the developers signed contracts with TGS and Fugro to conduct geophysical and geotechnical surveys for the eastern array of the DBS projects.