UK: Vattenfall stops wind energy development

Vattenfall, the Swedish energy company, has stopped development of the Nocton Fen Wind Energy Project after assessing the impact of proposed changes to planning policy by the UK Government.

The developer has written to local residents thanking them for their enthusiastic engagement over the past two years.

Graham Davey, Vattenfall’s Project Manager for the Nocton Fen Wind Energy Project, said: “It’s obviously disappointing to stop development of Nocton Fen as it would have delivered significant benefit locally and generated affordable, clean and renewable energy for tens of thousands of homes every year.

“It was clear that proposed changes to onshore wind planning in England introduced increased risk in the process. Stopping the scheme now is a sensible decision.

“I would like to personally thank the many hundreds of people who have spoken to us and helped shape our plans for a development at Nocton Fen.”

Until now, the Nocton Fen Wind Energy Project was part of a planning process – known as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning (NSIP) - designed to control development of strategically important energy infrastructure such as large onshore wind farms. After the General Election in May, the Conservative Government started to implement a manifesto commitment to remove onshore wind as a qualifying development type under the NSIP process.