UK Government grants consent for Vattenfall’s Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm

Both projects in Vattenfall’s proposed Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone have now been approved, in a major boost to the UK Government's plans to deploy 40GW of offshore wind by 2030. The zone will produce enough power annually for the equivalent of 3.9million UK homes, with Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas providing up to 3.6GW of renewable electricity capacity once operational. 

Helene Biström, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall, said: “Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas are industry leading projects, with their designs coordinated to minimise the impact on the environment and communities. We are very pleased to receive consent for Norfolk Vanguard. Although the decision was unfortunately made too late to enable us to bid this project in to the current CfD auction round 4, we will now look into potential opportunities to progress this project, working closely with the supply chain and local communities.” 

Danielle Lane, UK Country Manager for Vattenfall,?said:?“Today is a major?step forward?for a project that will help to unlock the huge potential of offshore wind?for the UK. We’re committed to making sure that these projects bring real, lasting benefit to the East of England – with jobs, supply chain and skills investment throughout?construction and operation.”??

“We’ll?be working even more closely now with local communities as we begin to take the project towards construction. This will include preparatory works on the ground, but also work with?our local partners?to make sure we get our plans absolutely right to maximise benefits to the region.”??

About Norfolk Vanguard

• 1.8 GW installed capacity
• First power expected mid 2020s
• 3million tonnes of CO2 saved per year
• One rotation of the blade could power an average UK home for more than 2 days
• Homes that the wind farm could power – almost 2 million 

About the Norfolk Zone

• 3.6GW installed capacity
• £15 million community benefit fund
• Part of industry plans to create 70,000 jobs by 2026, with 10% of these in the East of England
• First power expected: Mid 2020s
• Homes powered equivalent per annum: 3.9 million*
• Amount of C02 saved: 6 million tonnes per year*
• Equivalent cars removed: 3.2 million
• Geographical scale of offshore site area: 1307km2
• Distance of the nearest turbine from the shore: 47km
• Length of cabling onshore: 60km
• Grid infrastructure: Innovative and coordinated for both Norfolk Vanguard and Boreas. Designed to reduce: construction time, local disruption, environmental impact and cost to the UK energy user.
• Number of turbines: Between 180 and 312