Local people and communities along a proposed 60 kilometre underground cable route for the 1.8 gigawatt (GW) wind farm will be informed in a report that the potential development area has narrowed from a 3-7 kilometre wide search area to a 700 metre corridor. The narrowing of the search area allows more focused ecological surveys.
“We spoke with nearly eight hundred people last autumn and as a result we have been able to make good progress on the development of Norfolk Vanguard” said Ruari Lean, Vattenfall’s Project Development Manager for Norfolk Vanguard.
Mr Lean added that Vattenfall has managed to narrow the search area for the cable route from what was around 7,000 metres at its widest to 700 since the public engagement last autumn. This in turn will allow the company to focus its ecological assessment work. Vattenfall is also looking forward to discussing the plans with people in March and then refining the route further later this year with the benefit of more local feedback.
Vattenfall has already published its feedback summary report on last autumn’s seven public engagement events. The report found that many people were interested in the benefits of the project, which can be significant across economic, social and environmental sectors.
After coming to an agreement with National Grid, Vattenfall plans to bring power from the 1.8 GW offshore wind farm, located 47 kilometre offshore at its nearest point, to the shore between Bacton and Eccles-on-Sea. The company will then run an underground cable approximately 60 kilometre from shore to connect into the existing National Grid’s substation near Necton.
In 2016, Vattenfall entered into an agreement with The Crown Estate, the manager of the seabed in UK waters, to develop Norfolk Vanguard with a target capacity of 1.8 GW. If built this would generate enough clean power every year to meet the equivalent electricity demand of 4 percent of UK households. Norfolk Vanguard’s sister project, Norfolk Boreas, is expected to start its planning process later this year.
Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas are in important part of Vattenfall’s drive towards more sustainable power production and carbon neutrality by 2050. The company also has a 2025 target to triple its wind power capacity to 7 GW.
Image: Swinford wind farm
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