Danish energy company Ørsted said on Monday it has reached a legal agreement with the developers of the Mona and Morgan offshore wind farms to address projected wake effects on its nearby operational assets in the Irish Sea.
The agreement, involving JERA Nex, BP, and Germany’s EnBW, relates to the 1.5 gigawatt (GW) Mona and 1.5GW Morgan projects off the north-west coast of England. Ørsted had previously raised concerns that the two Round 4 offshore wind schemes could reduce output at several of its wind farms, including Burbo Bank.
Details of the agreement were not disclosed, but Ørsted said the arrangement would mitigate the potential impact on production at its existing wind farms.
“We can confirm that we have reached agreement with the developers of the Mona and Morgan offshore wind farms that will mitigate their impact on our production,” a company spokesperson said.
The Mona project received development consent earlier this year, including a requirement for its backers to submit a wake effects plan. For Morgan, which is still awaiting a permit decision due by 10 September, the developers argued that no such condition was necessary due to the concluded agreement with Ørsted, according to planning documents.
“As a consequence of this agreement, on behalf of our impacted operational wind farms, Ørsted believes that the Mona wind farm has satisfactorily met requirement 29 in its Development Consent Order and Ørsted has also withdrawn its representations in respect of the Morgan offshore wind farm,” the company added.
“Having concluded these agreements, we look forward to a continued cooperative relationship during the construction and operation of the Morgan and Mona wind farms.”
The Mona and Morgan projects form part of the UK’s Round 4 offshore wind leasing round, which aims to significantly increase renewable capacity to meet national energy and climate targets.
