Shapps overrules planning inspectors by approving giant wind farm

Grant Shapps has given the go ahead for the final phase of Orsted’s mammoth Hornsea offshore wind farm, despite planning inspectors warning that the scheme goes against wildlife protection regulations.

The energy secretary has confirmed that a development consent order (DCO) has been granted for Hornsea Project Four, paving the way for construction to begin.

The decision comes following a five-month delay to the planning process because Shapps wanted more information about the impact of the development on local birdlife.

The wildlife concerns were raised by the Planning Inspectorate in its recommendation report which has been published alongside the DCO decision.

The Inspectorate’s report recommends that Shapps withholds consent due to the scheme breaching wildlife protection laws.

However the secretary of state ruled that the scheme’s contribution to the “urgent need” for low-carbon energy infrastructure outweighs potential harms to wildlife from the proposed development.

The project, which is planned for a stretch of the North Sea around 69km off the Yorkshire coast, consists of up to 180 wind turbines generating 2.6GW of power.

Orsted is also planning six offshore transmission substations and associated onshore infrastructure to connect the Hornsea Four turbines to the grid.

The project is the second biggest UK wind farm to have been awarded planning consent after the 2.9GW Hornsea Three, which received a DCO in 2020. Both Hornsey One and Two are operating.

Responding to Shapps’ announcement, RenewableUK executive director of policy Ana Musat, said: “It’s great to see one of the UK’s largest offshore wind farms getting the green light from the government, at a time when we urgently need to get cracking on building new clean energy projects to generate the cheapest power for billpayers and enable us to bolster domestic supply chains

“Hornsea Four will strengthen Britain’s energy security significantly, helping us to move away from the volatility of international gas prices and closer towards energy independence, as well as enabling us to take a major leap forward towards net zero”.

The DCO for Hornsea 4 was announced on the same day that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published its response to a recent consultation on potential changes to future Contracts for Difference (CfD) rounds.

It says the government will continue to explore proposals in the document to extend eligibility for CfDs to combined interconnector and offshore wind projects and replacements for existing wind farms.