Standard content for Members only
To continue reading this article, please login to your Utility Week account, Start 14 day trial or Become a member.
If your organisation already has a corporate membership and you haven’t activated it simply follow the register link below. Check here.
Business and energy secretary Andrea Leadsom has delayed a decision on whether to grant planning permission for the Thanet Extension offshore windfarm whilst she awaits clarifications on a number of issues.
A notice on the Planning Inspectorate’s website says the minister will set a new deadline for the decision once parliament is back in session. She was otherwise due to make a decision by 11 December – three months after the Planning Inspectorate submitted its recommendations to the secretary of state.
In an open to letter to the developer Vattenfall and other interested parties, Gareth Leigh, head of energy infrastructure planning at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, sought confirmation that the project has been granted a seabed lease by the Crown Estate.
Among other things, Leigh also requested comments from stakeholders on the impact of the project on shipping and ports, fish spawning grounds and saltmarshes.
All energy projects of greater than 50MW are considered national significant infrastructure and therefore require a development consent order from the secretary of state.
The Thanet Extension off the coast of Kent is set to feature up to 34 turbines with a combined of up to 340MW. Vattenfall says it is planning to use either 10MW or 12MW turbines, suggesting GE Renewable Energy’s new Haliade-X model is in the running.
Please login or Register to leave a comment.